


Truth and Consequences

by nychus



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alpha Noctis Lucis Caelum, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst with a Happy Ending, Eventual Relationships, Implied Mpreg, Kidnapping, M/M, Omega Ignis Scientia, Rape/Non-con Elements, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-08-10 02:08:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 25,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16461425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nychus/pseuds/nychus
Summary: The Council of the Citadel have always held archaic views of omegas; namely that they should be hidden away and not seen.When Ignis Scientia presented omega, he feared his place in Noctis life and immediately suppressed his dynamic to appear beta like his family always had been. But now that Insomnia has fallen and his medication isn't available, he has to face the consequences of telling Noctis the truth.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Me: I'm gonna write one shots for awhile and stay away from ABOs.
> 
> Also Me: WRITE THIS STORY
> 
> So here we are. Yay?
> 
> I've also stayed in Truth or Consequences in New Mexico while doing field work. We stayed there because we could, there was probably somewhere closer to our field sites :D

Insomnia was often accused of being too liberal in terms of how they treated omegas. This was true when one looked at how Niflheim treated their omegas (mostly as slaves) or Tenebrae and Altissia (omegas were mostly servants or the lowest rung of industry, but they did have rights), but it fell through when the whole of Lucis was concerned.

In Insomnia, omegas were seen as normal citizens that were mostly treated exactly as betas. There were some jobs that omegas were never allowed (higher ups in business) and some that were almost exclusively for them (childcare). The service industry certainly held more omegas than the other dynamics and omegas were never the owner of stores or even kiosks. These facts would make anyone think the city was too good to that dynamic.

Outside the walls, however, omegas were no different than any other citizen. They ran businesses, oversaw farms, worked hard in EXINERIS, and did all sorts things even the most liberal alphas and betas of the city would balk at. Allowances were made for heats and even bonded pairs if needed. An omega may be at work one day, miss the next four, and then back without anyone batting an eye. It was just the way it was.

It was one of the few perks Lucians got when King Regis had to pull the wall back thirty years before. The Citadel held some of the worst speakers against omega rights and were always trying to suppress those outside the city. They basically lost control once greater Lucis was cut off.

The king would never admit to the councilmen, but he was pleased they lost that battle. It wasn’t a wound he wanted to keep open in terms of what the council wanted. For Regis, it was more important to try to focus on improving the rights of omegas in the city and more specifically, in the Citadel.

Although he was king of an entire country, Regis had very little say in how the Citadel ran. That fell to is so-called ‘betters’ who loathed to have any omega working within her walls. They conceded to allow omegas in places they would never be seen (like the kitchens) and even allowed one to be a nursemaid to the young Prince Noctis when his mother passed so soon after his birth. They would never allow an omega anywhere near the inner circle.

Regis knew it was simply a matter of waiting out the old guard and bringing in the new, but most of the councilmen seemed too stubborn to retire (or die). They also had the added benefit of having offspring just waiting in the wings who had grown up on the vitriol that their parents would spout. He was slowly figuring out ways to get new blood in, but it was a long process.

Ignis Scientia presented when he was fifteen. He wasn’t expecting to present. He was from a long line of betas and should have made it to his twenties without any change in body chemistry. But one day he realized that he could sense the annoyance of one of the councilmen as group passed by. Another had a scent that was a strong anger. Those shouldn’t be scents he could pick up at the distance he was from them. Betas will always have a good sense of the room and a good feel for who was feeling what, but it was alphas and omegas that could pinpoint exactly who was feeling what.

As he walked back to the apartment he shared with his uncle in the Citadel, he pondered this new facet of his life and wondered if he somehow was going to present alpha. The first alpha of House Scientia in centuries if not ever. There was a bit of a thrill to the thought; he’d really be able to go toe to toe with Gladio in training.

But then he entered his room and looked at the neat pile of pillows on his bed, each arranged very carefully with a night stand in easy reach that held several books and his favorite childhood stuffed tonberry. He wasn’t presenting alpha. He was presenting omega. It wasn’t until this moment that he realized he had been nesting.

For a moment he just stared at his bed and then in a fit of rage he wrenched the pillows from their carefully placed positions and threw them around the room. Once done, he sank to the floor and buried his face in his knees and cried.

This was how his uncle found him and it took a long time for Stupeo to work out what was wrong. When Ignis finally managed to get out that he’s presenting omega, Stupeo quickly leapt into action. Ignis watches miserably as his uncle makes a few phone calls and is confused when he’s told to pack a suitcase.

“You’re going home,” Stupeo told him.

Ignis eyes went wide and more tears streamed down his cheek, “Uncle, no!” He wasn’t sure what he was saying no to. It was inevitable that he’d be pulled away from Noctis as soon as the Council found out. But he should have a few more days. A few more days of bliss before losing everything he has ever wanted.

Stupeo grabbed his nephew by the shoulders and made him look him in the eye. “You want to stay with Prince Noctis, right?”

Ignis nodded.

“What would you do to stay?”

“Anything,” Ignis whispered.

“Could that involve going on strong enough drugs to pass you off as a beta?”

“Yes.”

“At the risk of infertility?”

“Yes, Uncle.”

Stupeo smiled. It wasn’t a happy smile and Ignis wasn’t quite sure what it might mean, but his uncle seemed to be giving him a way to stay with Noctis. That was what mattered.

“Tomorrow you will return to Tenebrae. You’ll go through presenting with your parents. Sophos will have access to the drugs to keep you appearing as beta and he will go over everything with you. All the risks and—”

“I don’t care about the risks, so long as I can stay with Noct.”

There was that smile again. It seemed sad and yet, understanding.

That night, after Ignis packed, he sent a text to Noctis saying that he had to return home immediately for a family emergency and that he should be back in a week.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ignis tells Noctis his true dynamic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the angst train. You'll be on it for a long while, so get comfy.
> 
>  
> 
> Also, I apparently neglected to put the first two paragraphs in the first chapter, so if you want a bit more world building and haven't read it yet, it be there.

The heat of Lestallum did nothing to calm Ignis’s nerves. He stared out over buildings and down the streets, trying to find the words that just would not come. He had to tell Noctis. The sooner the better, even if sooner should have been seven years ago.

They left Insomnia two months ago. They were supposed to head to Altissia, watch as Noctis wed Lunafreya, and then return home. There was no way to know precisely how long they would be gone, but Ignis planned for three months at the longest. Honestly, he wouldn’t have been surprised if they weren’t back before the end of two weeks, but better safe than sorry.

Then, Insomnia fell and there was no longer a wedding or a home to return to. The last two months had been spent crisscrossing the country, helping where they could and dodging enemy dropships. They finally got to Lestallum with a few days to themselves and Ignis managed to sneak away to find a doctor. One that he hoped would be able to help him.

Instead, he was told that the drugs he had been taking for the last seven years were too strong and that he wouldn’t be able to find them out here in the world where omegas were treated as people. The doctor didn’t have any real suggestion as omegas never tried to suppress themselves outside of Insomnia. Ignis had a month to get used to the idea of letting everyone know he was an omega and the doctor gave him a few suggestions on how to ease off of the medication to endure the least side effects.

The sooner he does it the better, but it has to be planned out. He needs to know where he can go to feel safe. It’s one thing to be in greater Lucis under normal circumstances, but with the destruction of the city, refugees were spreading across the country and some of those refugees still had very firm ideas of what an omega was for. Especially male omegas.

There was a loud subset of citizens that saw male omegas as abominations of nature. Men did not bare children. The same group had similar thoughts on female alphas, although they raged more quietly there. Alphas were men and omegas were female. That was how it was. There was some relief that this subset was made up of mostly betas, but whenever an alpha got involved, things got toxic fast and if their sights got set on an omega, the poor man had very little hope of getting out unscathed.

Male omegas were seen as lesser beings, weak, and a disgrace to their sex. They were generally just referred to as ‘it’ as if they were objects and not people. Ignis had read reports over the years of omegas being used as sex toys. Bought and sold in underground auctions to anyone who could afford them. It was a small blessing that male omegas were very rare and so the number of people being treated like that was low. But a low number does not make up for the high percentage of male omegas that suffer abuse; well over 90%. It had slowly been getting better as more and more security cameras went up around the city and omegas were encouraged by their friends and family to report the abuse. The number of convictions had spiked in recent years as more and more omegas felt safe in talking to the police.

The number of auctions had dropped as well. The buying and selling of male omegas was becoming harder and harder to do.

But now there was no real police force. No Crownsguard or Kingsglaive to protect the masses. Lucis was a big, open, and very empty world outside Insomnia making it very easy for omegas to go missing and no one would know.

It wasn’t something that had happened yet, at least not at the point that it reached the news. Missing people reports hadn’t changed much and there was no proportional difference to one dynamic to another. But just because it hadn’t happened yet doesn’t mean it wouldn’t. Ignis knew he needed to be very careful as he worked through this next month.

First, he had to tell Noctis and he knew that would be the hardest thing he had ever done.

Ignis was still staring at the city when Noctis entered. He yawned and mumbled a hello before stepping into the bathroom. When he came back into the main room it didn’t take him long to join Ignis at the little balcony.

“What’s wrong?” he asked and somewhere Ignis appreciated the prince’s ability to just know when he was out of sorts. He also knew when not to push, so when Ignis didn’t answer, Noctis didn’t ask again.

Ignis wasn’t sure how long they stood there before he finally got the courage to speak.

“Do you remember when we were children and one of your caregivers ended up pregnant? Stefan was his name, I think.”

“Astrals, yes. That was awful. The way he screamed and begged. I had no idea what was happening but I knew I didn’t like it. It was the first time I really understood how omegas got treated. What may you think of that?”

He stayed silent for a bit before saying, “I presented omega.”

“What?”

“I went on the strongest suppressants my father could get me and other than my first heat at presentation, I’ve never experienced any omega traits.”

Ignis could tell Noctis was staring at him and unable to think of anything to say.

“My suppressants are going to run out soon and I will not be able to get them again. I have about a month and then I’ll be forced into the dynamic I was never meant to be.”

Several more seconds of silence and Ignis thought maybe, just maybe, it wouldn’t be as bad as he feared it would be.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Noctis asked, voice low.

“It wasn’t important.”

“What do you mean it wasn’t important?!” Noctis cried. “You’re dynamic is an important part of who you are!”

“It was the wrong dynamic!” Ignis returned.

“No, no. You were told your whole life that you were going to be beta. You expected to be beta and when you weren’t, you didn’t give omega a chance.”

“They would have taken me away from you!”

“I wouldn’t have let them!” 

Ignis stared at the prince and the raised voices quieted as Ignis said, “At age thirteen, you would have gone against the council to keep me there?”

“YES!”

“Your father didn’t even do that. He accepted my decision witho—” 

“My father knew?” Noctis interrupted and Ignis immediately realized he made a mistake. “My father knew your dynamic and I didn’t? IGNIS! You were my first friend, my longest friend, my best friend and you couldn’t let me know your dynamic? Did you think I would hate you for it?”

“Of course not! Astrals, Noct, not once did I think you’d push me away. I didn’t tell you because I knew you would hate it. I knew you would fight it and I knew that it wouldn’t get you anywhere. I didn’t tell you because I wanted to stay by your side. I cared about you too much to be forced to abandon you.”

“But you didn’t care enough to tell me the truth,” Noctis said, voice low again. “Not even when I was old enough to understand.”

“Noctis…” but Ignis didn’t know what to say. He was right. Ignis should have told him once he understood the implications of his decision. “I’m sorry.”

There was no response, just a quiet stare, so Ignis pushed on.

“I need to figure out how to handle this and not put you…”

“Do whatever,” Noctis finally said, raising his hand in dismissal. “I can’t deal with this right now. Do what ever you think is best. Apparently, you’re good at that.” He then went to the bathroom and slammed the door. Seconds later, Ignis heard the bath water start.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why did you have to yell at Iggy, Noct?

The water had turned cold a long time ago, but Noctis couldn’t be bothered to leave the stream. Everything that he thought he knew about Ignis was a lie. A lie.

_Was it though?_ a small voice in the back of his head asked. _Is Iggy’s dynamic really that important? Did he change after he started taking the medication? Or was he the same old Iggy who cared for you and took care of you. Who knew when you needed that extra push or when to back off. He took on a more parental role during this trip; always making sure you were all fed, watered, and healthy. He keeps everything going and lets no one stray from the path._

Noctis made a loud, frustrated noise as he cursed his mind for being right. He felt hurt and betrayed, but he could understand why Ignis did what he did. What was it like to realize you were presenting omega knowing how the council thought of them. At least he understood why Ignis had asked about Stefan.

“Noct? Iggy?” Gladio’s voice cut through his thoughts and Noctis knew he needed to talk with Ignis. By the sound of it, he had left the room. Noctis couldn’t blame him. He knew that this wasn’t something that he was going to get over easily, but they would work through it. They would figure out how to deal with the heat and go from there. Caem was probably the best place for them to head to for that. Ignis would know, he’s probably already got a few ideas in the works anyway.

He turned off the shower and called, “Be right out!” He dried and dressed, annoyed with himself for not bringing in clean clothes, but he also hadn’t intended on taking a shower right then either. While towel drying his hair, he stepped into the room. “Hey.”

Gladio had taken at seat on one of the armchairs while Prompto had settled on a bed.

“Dude! We found the coolest looking pub that we have to go to tonight,” Prompto said.

“We just had lunch a couple of hours ago,” Noctis laughed.

“Four hours ago,” Prompto corrected. “It doesn’t open until much later, but the menu looks amazing. Iggy’s gonna love it! Where is he?”

Noctis shrugged and Gladio reasked the question, but in a very different tone.

“Yeah, where is he?” Gladio asked, staring at the beds. Noctis and Prompto followed his gaze but neither saw what he did. Or rather, what he didn’t. “He’s bag isn’t here.”

“Huh?” they both asked and Noctis looked at the bed he shared with the man in question. His bag was where he had left it this morning, on the bed with half of its contents spewed about. Ignis always placed his bag on one of those foldable luggage racks between the bed and the wall. And although Noctis couldn’t see the rack from where he was standing, he knew he should have been able to see the bag. It was not there.

Noctis’s stomach dropped, but he told himself to be calm. Perhaps he needed something from the Regalia and took his bag to switch things out or something. He pulled out his phone to call; Ignis would pick up and tell them where he was and when he’d back. It’d be fine.

Until Gladio stood up and looked into Noctis’s open bag, reached in, and pulled out a vibrating phone. Ignis’s phone.

“No…”

“Noct? What’s going on?” Prompto asked. “Why would Iggy’s phone be in your bag?”

For some reason that he would never be able to understand, Noctis reached into the armiger to pull out Ignis’s daggers, but they weren’t there. Same with his polearm. Ignis must have removed them from the armiger while Noctis was in the shower being a petulant asshole and he didn’t feel the tug. Since Ignis had removed them, there was nothing that Noctis could grab that would pull on Ignis. While Noctis could feel every time that someone used the armiger (weapons, potions, camping gear, whatever), Gladio, Prompto, and Ignis could only feel when their own personal weapons were taken out by Noctis.

Ignis had cut off of all communication, no matter how slight.

“No no no no no,” Noctis kept saying after repeated attempts of getting the weapons failed. He then took off out of the room with Gladio and Prompto on his heels.

Maybe he hadn’t been gone that long and they could find him. Perhaps in the market or down by the Regalia. He tried the market first, but there was no sign of his adviser. He ran up and down the streets, looking for another hotel or hostel or somewhere that Ignis might go for the night. He was just giving Noctis a chance to cool down. That was all.

Gladio and Prompto kept calling to him, asking what was going on, but Noctis ignored them. Then Gladio yelled out in a way that was different than their previous queries. He turned around to see that Gladio had stopped at the arms dealer. Before he could ask why or roll his eyes and continue on, the man picked up a polearm. Ignis’s polearm.

“Ya like that?” the guy asked. He wasn’t the one they usually saw working there, so he didn’t recognize them as repeat customers. “Just got it, not an hour ago. Some guy said he needed gil and sold it to me. Drove a hard bargain, but this baby was worth it.”

“Some guy didn’t happen to be tall, wore glasses, and spoke with a Tenebraen accent, did he?” Gladio asked.

“Yeah, friend of yours?”

Gladio and Prompto looked over at Noctis as if asking if that still held true. Noctis’s heart broke even more and he took off towards the outlook. Maybe someone saw him or better yet, maybe he was still there.

The main street through town showed no sign of him, neither did the Regalia or the outlook. Noctis went to one of the vendors they had eaten from before and asked if he’d seen Ignis.

“Who, glasses?” the guy asked. “Yeah, saw him rent a chocobo and ride outta town. Seemed in a hurry.”

“Which way did he go?” Noctis asked. The guy pointed towards the tunnel that led into the city. With a thank you, Noctis ran towards the Regalia and pulled the keys from the armiger. He barely waited for Gladio and Prompto to tumble into the car before speeding off.

Outside the tunnel, they came to a fork in the road and Noctis realized he had no idea which way Ignis might go. He parked the car and got out, looking for any indication of a chocobo. A feather or a footprint, anything.

“Something, anything, PLEASE!” Noctis cried, looking around. Then “IGNIS!” but there was nothing but the silence of the wild to answer.

“Noct, dude, what is going on?” Prompto asked.

“Yeah, Noctis, what did you do?” Gladio glared.

The tears were falling freely as Noctis looked down each side of the fork. “I fucked it all up.”

“How?” Gladio asked, but Noctis didn’t answer. “HOW?” 

“He’s omega.”

“What?” Prompto and Gladio asked together.

Noctis finally turned to look at them. “He presented omega, but has been suppressing it since the beginning. He can’t get his suppressants and will have a heat once they’re gone.”

“But… What…? I just… What…? How…?” Prompto muttered a bunch of starts to sentences that he couldn’t finish.

“He told you this?” Gladio asked.

“Yeah and all I did was yell at him for not telling me sooner. He was trying to say we needed a plan for the heat, but I brushed him off. Told him to do whatever he thought was best.”

“And this was his solution?!” Gladio cried. “Godsdammit, Iggy! WHY?!” Gladio hit the hood of the Regalia hard.

“Hey!” Noctis yelled. “This is my fault! If I wasn’t so stuck on my own dumb feelings, I would have realized he was asking for help.”

“Oh, no, you can’t put this all on you,” Gladio growled.

“But, I’m the one that…”

“No, Noctis. He lied. He lied about something very important.”

“For good reason!” Noctis yelled.

“I’m not saying it wasn’t for a good reason, but that doesn’t negate the fact that he lied. And if he didn’t expect you to react negatively, then he’s not as smart as I thought he was.”

Gladio and Noctis glared at each other and Prompto tentatively asked, “So what now?”

Tension broken, all three looked down both roads. There was no way to tell which way Ignis might go and if he didn’t want to be found, he would stay far from the roads. They pulled out the map to see where the closest town was, but it was pretty much a tossup between Meldacio HQ and Coernix Stations at either Alstor or Cauthess. There were more havens to following the right fork, but Ignis might assume they’d go that way and head left. Perhaps camping out at the lighted parking area that is there.

Not only was their no way of knowing which way he went, all of their stuff was still in Lestallum and they would need to go back to get it. Noctis couldn’t even call their chocobos because the rental period had run out and since they had been planning on staying in Lestallum for a few days, he didn’t renew it.

There was nothing for it, but head back to Lestallum. They would decide their next move and hope they made the right guesses to get to their friend.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ignis experiences his heat.

It was five days before Ignis finally found himself amongst civilization.

The journey hadn’t been easy. The first night he managed to find a small alcove to stay. He didn’t get much sleep for fear of daemons or beasts. The next night he found somewhere to hole up near the lights of a parking area. It was then a matter of getting to havens and finally he found himself at the Coernix Station at Alstor.

He was happy to rent the caravan and have a soft bed for the night. Not that Snowflake didn’t make for a comfortable and comforting feather pillow, but sometimes the whole body needed the softness of a mattress.

After replenishing his supplies to the best of his ability, Ignis sat outside the caravan, staring at his map. He needed a next move. He needed to figure out where to go. He supposed his best choices were either the Prairie Outpost, Hammerhead, or the Chocobo Post. None of them seemed appealing. Ignis wasn’t sure he trusted the hunters enough to go through a heat in their midst. Hammerhead would likely see Cindy getting ahold of Noctis. There was always a good chance Prompto would insist on going to see the chocobos should they stray near enough.

Ignis was so intent on his map, that he didn’t notice the station clerk come over.

“Hey, you okay?” he asked, startling Ignis. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s just, you’ve been staring hard at that map for an hour as if you think it’ll give you all the answers to the universe.”

Ignis sighed and he looked at the man. He seemed nice enough. A beta that genuinely looked like he wanted to help. Ignis realized that he would have to rely on the kindness of strangers if he was to figure this whole mess out.

“It’s just…” Ignis started and the man nodded towards one of the empty seats, asking for permission to sit. “Yes, by all means.”

“Okay, what’s up?”

“I need to find somewhere to ride out my heat,” Ignis explained, “and I don’t know where that might be.”

“Your heat coming soon?”

“A few weeks.”

“I’d go to Wiz’s,” the man said with absolutely no thought to it. “A lot of the hands there are omegas and they will be more than happy to help.”

“I don’t know,” Ignis said, looking at the map again. It was the closest.

“Wiz is a good guy,” the man went on. “He’ll help you out. You’ll probably need to help around the post in exchange, but who doesn’t want to help care for the chocobos?”

When Ignis still seemed unsure, the clerk pulled out his phone and said he’d be happy to call the man in question and inquire. Figuring there was nothing to lose, Ignis allowed the clerk to do just that. Two days later, Ignis found himself riding up to the post itself.

One of the handlers took Snowflake from him as he hopped off and went to go talk to Wiz.

“You’re one of the boys that took down Deadeye,” Wiz said with a laugh.

“Yes, I am, sir. I am also the one who has requested a chance to stay to ride out my heat.”

Another laugh. “You’re the omega Gorgio called about? I would never have guess.” Wiz glanced around the post and when he saw who he was looking for he gave a call, “Cass! Here please!”

A small, middle-aged woman glanced over and then made her way to the two of them. “Yes?” She was eyeing Ignis with interest.

“Cass, this is…” Wiz looked over to Ignis, who provided his name. “Ignis and he needs a safe place to go through his heat. Think you can help him?”

Cass looked him up and down and said, “City boy?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

That got a smile out of her, as if she wasn’t expecting such politeness. With a nod of her head, she led him to one of the buildings on the ranch.

“How long until your heat?”

“A few weeks? I’m not really sure,” Ignis confessed. “I’ve suppressed it since the beginning and haven’t had a heat since I presented.”

“Astrals, boy, why?! Why on earth would you cut such an important part of you off?”

“I was never meant to be omega,” Ignis said. “I was supposed to be beta, as all of my family.”

“And they’d’ve disowned you? Or was it their decision?”

“It was my decision and they helped me. My family had long worked inside the Citadel and I was to follow in their footsteps. When I presented, I couldn’t stand the thought of not being there. I made my decision immediately and have never once regretted it.”

“Those old assholes in the Citadel sure hated omegas,” Cass mumbled. Ignis o

They came to a stop outside a door and Cass pushed it open. It was a very simple room. A bed, a dresser, a chair, and a lamp. Ignis had had closets bigger than this place and he was so very thankful to have it. He put his things down as Cass told him the ins and outs of the place. It was all pretty basic to life on a ranch. So long as Ignis was staying, he would pay for the room with labor. There was always something that needed doing.

As the days passed, Ignis was following the advice of the doctor by slowly coming off the meds. All the while he was helping muck the stables or help repair fallen fences.

It was a bittersweet day when three familiar chocobos ran up to the ranch. Glendive immediately recognized him and before Ignis knew it, he had a face full of red feathers.

“Friend of yours?” one of then workhands asked.

“My friends’ birds,” Ignis replied. As he rubbed Glendive’s beak, he quietly asked, “Is he okay?” The resulting chirrup made Ignis think Noctis was or at least hope.

Ignis was allowed to care for Glendive, Thalassa, and Shirley and then stable them next to Snowflake who had missed her friends. Ignis wondered how long before they would be called off again and where would they go. Ignis was helping to repair a gutter when they were called away again and he happened to glance the birds as they ran off towards the Disc and then disappear among the rocks.

The other omegas on the ranch were keeping a close eye on Ignis as they were all aware of the circumstances surrounding this heat. Someone else noticed when Ignis started nesting. It wasn’t much, just a collected towel and then a favorite shirt. The final tell, however, was when four chocobo feathers made their way into Ignis’s room. White, red, blue, and lavender. They were woven around the various things and once the others noticed, they were quick to supply extra blankets and pillows.

Ignis’s nest, like everything else about him, was meticulous in its design. Most omegas made their nests in a haphazard way, but Ignis was careful. Everything had its place, even if the other omegas gave him shit for it.

When the heat did hit, it hit full force. The drugs had worn off and Ignis’s body was set on making up for seven years of missed heats.

He was absolutely miserable. Nothing he did would alleviate the itch he kept feeling. The omegas did there best, finding a sweaty alpha shirt to help. They also tried to help Ignis relieve the need. Rules had been set in place before hand and the omegas followed them. Rules such as no penetration, no matter how much he begged. An omega helped another omega. It was just the way of the world. Cass checked on him often and she’d always bring food or water. She was also an old pro at helping omegas and she was the best at getting the haze of lust to clear if only for a little bit.

During the heat, Ignis didn’t have time to feel embarrassment at the fact that virtual strangers were touching him in places no one else ever had. Afterward, it was difficult to look anyone in the eye. Cass worked her magic their too and soon Ignis was thanking them all.

A few days later, the first day Ignis felt completely normal, Cass found him sitting on a fence post, staring out into the darkening sky. It was time to get back to his friends, but he was afraid to. He was afraid at what they might say or do after he left them like he did.

“Ready to get back to your alpha?” she asked.

“I…my alpha?” Ignis asked confused. “I don’t have an alpha.”

“Don’t you?” she asked with a knowing smile.

“No… I’ve never felt anything towards anyone.”

“Is that because you didn’t? Or because those drugs you were on were so strong you didn’t realize it?” Cass questioned. “Ignis, more than once you muttered or moaned the name ‘Noct’ as you climaxed. People don’t tend to stick with one person if they don’t feel something for them.”

Ignis stared at the woman. Had he really moaned Noct’s name? He had no recollection of doing such, although he did remember having a strong want to pull something of Noctis’s out of the armiger. Something that would smell strongly of his prince and help with the heat. He didn’t though. He couldn’t. He’d have to know exactly what to look for to pull it out of the armiger and Ignis had no idea what, if anything, he might have in there.

And, sure, maybe his mind had wandered to Noctis quite a bit pre- and post-heat, but that’s just because he was worried about him. And, perhaps he kept fingering his skull necklace, using it a bit as a worry-stone, but for the same reason.

“Is this ‘Noct’ the reason you went on the suppressants in the first place?”

“Yes, but only because we had been at each other’s side for so long,” Ignis reasoned. “I didn’t want to be taken away from him.” Cass made a noise that sounded like she didn’t believe him. “Besides, it doesn’t matter, he’s to be wed.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“Even though the entire reason that wedding was suppose to happen was due to a treaty that was broken before it was ever signed?” There was a sly look on Cass’s face to Ignis’s astonished one. She laughed, “Don’t worry, I don’t think anyone else figured it out. Noctis became a popular name after the prince was born. But I remember seeing you boys when you took care of Deadeye and I recognized the prince for who he was.”

“Yes, well,” Ignis gave a little cough, trying to get the conversation under control again. “Even more reason why my non-existent feelings wouldn’t matter.”

With a chuckle, Cass finally relented. “Alright, this old woman doesn’t know everything, so perhaps I am wrong. But this world is going to shit and if something like an alpha and an omega finding each other can happen, it’ll mean the world isn’t quite as doomed as I think. Just, search inside yourself, Ignis, that’s all I will say.”

“I will, thank you,” Ignis responded quietly.

He continued to sit on the fence well past nightfall. He thought about his life with Noctis and all the things he did for him. More than once he went above and beyond his duty as chamberlain and even as a friend to make Noctis smile. Why would he spend so much time trying to perfect those tarts? Or be so concerned with his health and happiness? It was just friendly…right? He just wanted the best for his friend.

But even as he thought that, he remembered how upset he was about the wedding to Lunafreya. When they were told it was like someone had punched him in the gut. He had no idea why the news warranted that reaction, but perhaps it was because subconsciously he knew. He knew how he felt about Noctis. Hell, the fact he was spending so much thought on this and not just pushing it aside said something.

Cass had told him once that if he was meant to be beta, he would have been born one. The fact he was omega had to mean something. Perhaps that something was to be Noctis’s counterpart, his consort.

Ignis spent the next few days lost in thought and sometimes those thoughts went somewhere they had no business going. He tried to blame it on the fact he was finally omega after all this time of being beta, but he could never stray from Noctis. It truly was a change to have hormones working like they were supposed to. He had always assumed he was asexual because no one did it for him. He had no interest in sex and was not attracted to anyone. But it was all just the medication. Now he would have the most embarrassing boners and the only way to relieve it was to think of Noctis. It was always Noctis, even when he tried to think of someone else it would always go back to Noctis.

He allowed himself the time to get himself under some semblance of control and the next time that Glendive and the others were ready to run off, Ignis slipped a note into one of the saddlebags that said.

_I’m heading to Caem._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, Iggy didn't have too bad a time with his heat. Small miracles. :D


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noctis is grumpy. Gladio and Prompto try to help.

Noctis had known depression, but this was beyond it. This was something deeper than depression. This was something that he didn’t think he would ever get out of. And he couldn’t figure out why. After Insomnia fell and he found out his father had died, it hadn’t taken him this long to accept what had happened and moved on. It still hurt, sure, and he would still wake from nightmares from the events, but he could move on. With this, he couldn’t.

The others tried to help by keeping him busy and, yeah, when they were in the middle of the fight, there was nothing for Noctis to think about BUT the fight, but that was it. Before, after, walking, riding, sitting at camp or a hotel room, Noctis was elsewhere.

It had been a month since Ignis had disappeared and they hadn’t heard anything from him. Noctis thought that maybe he’d send some sort of indication that he was okay once he got somewhere safe, but that didn’t prove true. At least, he hoped it hadn’t proved true. He hoped that wherever Ignis was, he was safe. His heat would be any day now, or perhaps it’s already come and gone. Noctis didn’t know, he just wished he was there for his friend, to help in any way possible.

He did try to listen to Gladio and convince himself that it was a natural reaction to have when someone says they’ve been lying to you about something really big for so long. Noctis shouldn’t be at fault for being so angry, at least initially. Ignis should have known he wouldn’t take the information well and he should have given him a chance to cool down so they could talk about it calmly.

But all Noctis could see was the hurt on Ignis’s face when he told him to figure it out on his own. It was probably what he had planned all along: find somewhere to ride out the heat while the others continued doing hunts and whatever else. But they would have known where Ignis was, they would have been in contact and ready to get to him if need be. Instead, Noctis screwed it all up with his dumb mouth and everything was ruined.

They were sitting around the campfire when Prompto tentatively came closer to sit down. “Hey, Noct.”

“I’m fine.” He wasn’t, but that was the default answer to everything these days.

“You’re not, but that’s not what I was gonna say.”

Noctis looked over at Prompto and sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m taking this out on everyone and I have no right to.”

“Why?” Prompto asked. “That’s what I want to know. Why are you taking this so hard?”

Noctis shot him with a look of astonishment. How could he not take this so hard?

“Look,” Prompto continued. “I know that Ignis has been with you forever and finding out he’s omega would probably be similar to Gladio finding out Iris was omega. I get that it hurts, but Noctis, it’s been a month. And while I don’t want to draw this comparison, you bounced back a lot quicker after everything that happened in Insomnia.”

“He’s got a point,” Gladio said from his seat on the other side of the fire. “Ignis isn’t dead. We’ll find him or he’ll find us. I’ll kill him for this stunt he has pulled, but that’s not the point. You will see him again, why are you taking this so hard?”

Noctis shook his head. He didn’t know why it felt like the world had ended when Ignis had disappeared, but it did.

“Remember in high school when I asked if you had a thing for Iggy?” Prompto asked, causing Noctis to give him a sharp glare. “Your first reaction was an over-emphatic no and then you said it didn’t matter anyway because he was beta.”

Gladio made a noise of understanding, “You’ve been in love with him.”

“What? No I haven’t!” Noctis yelled.

“Really? How many people did you date in high school?” Gladio asked.

“None, but what does that matter? I knew there was a good chance I’d be married off politically anyway.”

With a raised eyebrow, Gladio asked, “Really? You thought there was a good chance when it hasn’t happened in three generations? Your father, grandfather, and great-grandfather all got to marry whom they pleased. Why were you so sure you’d be married off?”

“Things with Niflheim were—”

“Were what? The same as they had always been? Noctis you had no idea that things would get this bad. They’ve been on the cusp of getting this bad for the last 150 years.”

“Whatever,” Noctis groused. “Not like my classmates wouldn’t have tried to use it to gain power or popularity. Prompto was the only one that ever treated me like a person and not a prince.”

Beside him, Prompto beamed. Gladio asked, “And what about all the nobles?”

“Same reasons. Of course they would want to be the one to say they dated the prince.”

“Or, maybe you’re in love with Iggy and you’ve always been in love with Iggy. Now that he’s admitted he’s omega your inner alpha doesn’t know what to do with that information,” Prompto said.

“What does that mean?”

“It means you love him and your alpha wants to claim him. Make him yours to protect him,” Prompto said.

“Maybe you somehow always knew that Ignis was omega and that was a reason for the pull,” Gladio mused.

“Like soulmates!” Prompto exclaimed.

“Soulmates?” Noctis asked, unable to stop the laugh that came with it. Soulmates, how ridiculous.

“People say it’s a thing,” Gladio pointed out.

“People say that Cup Noodles are healthy and nutritious too,” Noctis shot back. Gladio shrugged. Prompto told him he should at least think about it and the conversation was dropped.

That night, as Noctis was waiting for sleep to come, he was thinking about what they had said. No, he didn’t believe in the idea of soulmates and no he didn’t think he subconsciously knew that Ignis was omega. But…but he couldn’t deny he had always felt a pull towards Ignis. He truly noticed Ignis as a viable mate once he had presented. But as he was alpha, a beta man would not be viable to him. Perhaps if he wasn’t prince and in need of producing an heir…

And it wasn’t like Ignis had ever shown interest in romance or sex or anything of the like. He never went on dates and when Noctis once asked what it was like to kiss someone, Ignis said he wouldn’t know. That conversation happened just after he found he was to wed Luna. He knew he could ask Ignis and not be laughed at, because Ignis would understand. Ignis wouldn’t make fun of him, knowing how reserved Noctis was towards people outside his inner circle.

Of course, now that he thought about it, Noctis wondered if the reason he never had interest in anyone else was because he truly had found the only person he would ever be interested in. Maybe if things hadn’t gone to shit, the two of them could have been together happily in a live-in, domestic partner kind of way. He’d say prince consort, but Ignis really never seemed interested in it. Having Ignis with him forever was all that Noctis really wanted.

And now Ignis wasn’t here because Noctis had screwed everything up so badly.

Sleep was fitful that night and he was grumpier the next morning due to it.

“What’s our next move?” Noctis asked behind a yawn when Prompto gave him some breakfast.

“Go find that shipment that got lost somewhere around here,” Gladio said. “The vender said it should be nearby, so I figure a quick look around on the chocobos and we’ll find it in no time.”

“Riding chocobos and getting back to Lestallum, sounds good to me!” Prompto said.

They ate and packed everything away in the Regalia before Noctis pulled out his whistle to call the birds. It wasn’t long before the three colorful birds came into view and stopped before their riders. Glendive seemed particularly happy to see Noctis and he kept tugging at one of his saddlebags as if he wanted something from inside.

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Noctis said with a small smile. He opened up the bag to find a folded piece of paper. Paper that had Ignis’s neat handwriting on it saying I’m heading to Caem.

“GUYS!” Noctis cried, waving the paper. “Ignis is going to Caem!”

“What?” Gladio and Prompto asked together. It was Gladio that took the paper from Noctis.

“How did Glendive get it?” Prompto wondered. “Wait, do you think Iggy was at Wiz’s the entire time?! He was hanging out with the chocobos while we were worried sick about him!?”

Gladio rolled his eyes and handed the paper back to Noctis. “Makes sense, actually. There were lots of omegas there. Perhaps he felt that was a safe place to be.”

“Yeah,” Noctis said. A smile had formed on his face and he couldn’t imagine it would go away anytime soon. They would get this delivery to its owner and make straight for Caem. Iggy would be there and they could talk and make everything right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't quite get the feeling I wanted this chapter to have, but I don't think me staring at it for any longer will get there.
> 
> The reason Noctis is so upset is because Ignis chose to leave. Regis didn't. So, even though he'll get to see Ignis again, it was Ignis who willingly left and that cut deep. Noctis just doesn't realize that's what this is.
> 
> But, hey, he's close to getting back to Iggy and they can have a nice long chat.
> 
> (I also realize how last story I was like "I won't name the chocobos!" and this story I am, but it's more for clarity's sake of Ignis knowing them when they come to and from the post.)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ignis gets hit with a detour.

Ignis watched the rain pour down from the comfort of the old awning he had found. He and Snowflake had been making good time towards Caem when the weather took a terrible turn and it seemed safest to find somewhere to wait it out. He was glad that Snowflake was such a warm presence, otherwise he might have caught hypothermia. 

The rain was relentless and Ignis had just about decided he was going to be here all night when he watched the headlights of a car pull up and the last person he wanted to see stepped out of the vehicle.

“Hello! Why on Eos have you found yourself alone in this rainstorm?” The question was asked with too much pleasure; like a predator stalking its prey. Small favor that he was staying next to his car under an umbrella and not walking over.

“Chancellor,” Ignis greeted, but said nothing more.

“Oh, please, call my Ardyn, I am hardly much of a chancellor in these conditions,” Ardyn grinned. Ignis said nothing and Ardyn continued. “It is strange to see his Highness’s royal adviser out here on his own. Trouble in paradise?”

Ignis just glared and allowed Snowflake to ruffle her feathers in annoyance. She was as pleased with Ardyn as he was it seemed.

When Ardyn stepped under the awning and lowered his umbrella, there was a flicker of recognition in his eyes that Ignis didn’t like.

“My, my, I didn’t know his Highness had an omega in his retinue. How interesting. Did he know?” Arydn asked with that evil grin of his.

“I do believe that my dynamic is none of your business,” Ignis said, pulling himself to full height, which still wasn’t tall enough to match Ardyn. Still, Ignis was an intimidating figure to most, whether he was taller than them or not.

“Oh, but I think it is,” Ardyn purred, swatting Snowflake away and pushing Ignis into the building behind. He was quick to grab both of Ignis’s wrists with one hand to pull them high above his head. Ardyn then slipped one leg between Ignis’s and used his body to pin the omega to the wall. His free hand then made its way to Ignis’s stomach, gripping lightly before pulling the shirt free from his pants and slipping his hand to touch bare skin. “Imagine what beautiful babies we could make,” he whispered into Ignis’s ear before grabbing the lobe with his teeth and lightly tugging.

Ignis yelled and violently shook to get Ardyn away, but the man was strong. In a blink, Ignis found his wrists bound and he had no idea how it had happened. Ardyn then dragged him to his car and shooed Snowflake away. The chocobo squawked and tried to get to Ignis, but Ardyn was too menacing. Before he knew it, Ignis found himself lying in the back seat of Arydn’s car, heading who knows where.

~*~*~*~*~

There was no way of knowing how long Ignis laid trapped in Arydn’s car. The chancellor made sure to keep him as uncomfortable as possible as he drove through the night until finally pulling into a garrison later the following afternoon. As looking out the windows was nigh impossible, Ignis didn’t know which garrison they were at, but he imagined it was the one in Leide, based on the weather. Formouth was the name, he believed.

A couple of MT units took hold of Ignis’s arms at Ardyn’s request and half carried/half dragged him into one of the many buildings. His heart dropped even further when he saw who was inside.

“Gentlemen, I come baring gift,” Ardyn smiled, making quite the flourish in pointing towards Ignis.

“That’s one of the prince’s friends,” Loqi Tummelt said, staring at Ignis.

“That’s the one who was ready to torture me for information,” Caligo Ulldor growled. “This is a mighty fine gift, Chancellor.”

“Indeed. But it is a gift with restrictions,” Ardyn said earning him glares from the commanders. “Beat him, cut him, bruise him, break him to your hearts’ desire, but do not kill him. He is not to have his hands unbound, least you risk him getting hold of a weapon. And, most importantly, no raping or claiming.”

There were very audible groans from both Caligo and Loqi.

“The prince’s personal omega and we can’t have fun?” Loqi asked.

“That’s a pretty big restriction,” Caligo added. Ignis didn’t like the way Caligo was eyeing him. It was as if he was now making it his personal mission to do both of those things.

“Yes, I know, I know. I’m dangling the meat in front of the hungry behemoths, but it is how it must be. Plans need to be set in motion and that cannot include his deflowering.”

Before either man could protest, Ardyn gave a sharp nod to the MTs holding Ignis and he was forced to follow Ardyn into another room. This room held half a dozen or so omegas that all perked up when Ardyn entered. They were immediately on their feet and a few were quick to offer any assistance he might need.

He politely declined, “Apologies, my pets, but I cannot stay. But I do have a very important task for you. I need you to look after Ignis. Be sure he’s fed and water. Keep him clean. If the others decide to use him as their personal punching bag, please tend to all wounds. Am I clear?”

“Yes, master,” they all dutifully replied.

“Excellent. You are such excellent omegas. I shall reward you handsomely upon my return. First, though, please strip him of all his clothing.”

“What? NO!” Ignis cried, but his protests were ignored. The MTs held him fast and the omegas came over and systematically took his clothes from him. They had to ask about what to do with the shirt, as it was impossible to get off without undoing the bindings on his wrist. Arydn told them to cut it off. There was going to be no risking Ignis getting access to the armiger.

The omegas had gotten everything off but his skull pendant by the time Ardyn returned to him. In his hands were some objects that Ignis didn’t want anything to do with.

“Good job, good job,” Ardyn cooed as he made his way towards Ignis. He then picked up the pendant, fingered it a bit, and then pulled hard so that the chain snapped. Ignis yelled when Arydn took the pendant away. He hadn’t taken it off since Noctis had given it to him and he’d be damned if Ardyn did anything to it. But no matter how hard he pulled and thrashed, there was no getting out of the MTs grip.

“Now, now, such a fuss over such a small thing,” Ardyn said. “It would have been in the way of this should it have stayed.” At those words, a large, metal collar snapped around Ignis’s neck and it was secured with a small padlock in the front. It was uncomfortable, the metal not only didn’t give but it cut into his skin any time he moved just a little. “I know it’s uncomfortable, but we can’t have those idiots deciding to ignore the rules and trying to claim you, can we?”

Next, Ardyn slipped a chastity belt on Ignis and it was worse than the collar. His flaccid cock was nearly too big for the cage surrounding it. The metal was cold and cut into his skin like the collar did and it too was secured with a tiny padlock. There would be no getting out of this without getting the key from Ardyn and Ignis had no idea how he’d ever manage that.

Once Ardyn was satisfied that both collar and belt were secure, he gently held Ignis chin in his hands and rubbed a thumb down Ignis’s lips. “I know it seems bad now, but this will keep you from any unwanted attention from my subordinates while I’m away. Dear omegas, please care for him. Thank you, and good bye.”

As soon as Ardyn was out the door, the omegas (all female, not that that had surprised Ignis) crowded him. They promised to take care of him; to be sure that the metal didn’t cut him too deep. They were already applying salves to his skin to help with the initial pain. They then made sure he was clothed in typical Niff omega garments (a very thin and very short tunic) and gave him food and drink.

Ignis wanted to refuse it all, but he knew that it wasn’t their fault. The omegas were doing what they were told. They all had claim marks and when he asked, his assumption was confirmed: they all belonged to Ardyn. There was nothing he could do to persuade them to set him free. He’d have to figure out something on his own.

After some time had passed, the door to the room opened and in walked Loqi and Caligo. They went directly to a couple of chairs and as soon as they sat down, two of the women immediately went over to each and started doting on them. Soft touches and fingers combing through hair. Another brought over some food and sat between them, feeing them when told to. All the while, they stared at Ignis.

“Seems the bastard knew better than to leave him alone with me,” Caligo said when he pulled the woman attending him into his lap. She was quick to shift clothing around and sink onto his waiting cock.

“You would have defied him?” Loqi asked.

“For that bastard, yes. Oh what I wouldn’t give to make him mine and make him beg for my knot daily. What were your orders from Ardyn?”

It was the woman on his lap that answered, “We are to care for him. Feed, water, bathe, and tend to any wounds you might inflict.”

“I suppose that means we’ll need to be sure this place as a fully stocked medical wing, because I imagine you’re going to need it, my sweet,” Caligo said.

Beside him, Loqi grinned and he too pulled his omega onto his lap.

And Ignis just sat where he was, the other omegas rubbing oil onto his skin, mind working in overtime with all the things Caligo might have in mind for him. As a strategist, he has been trained in the many ways of extracting needed information out of the enemy. He wondered if Caligo had been trained the same way or if he was just going to use him as a toy to maim and mutliate.

It didn’t matter. Ignis knew that he was not getting out of this unscathed. He hated himself for thanking Ardyn for protecting him with collar and belt and telling them they were not allowed to kill, but those were small favors at the moment. Mostly, Ignis was wishing he’d never left the others. Or maybe he had told them to come to Wiz’s.

“Noctis,” he whispered to the air, “please find me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said there'd be angst, right?
> 
> This does go against the rule I had for this fic of "be sure the next chapter is done or mostly done before posting" but everyone seemed so happy and I just didn't want you to think everything was okay for long >:D


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ardyn finds the boys and gives them the news.

“Stop,” Gladio growled.

“What?”

“Just, stop. You know that I’m going to kill him, so just stop.”

“Gladio,” Noctis rolled his eyes. He had been down right giddy since Glendive had brought Ignis’s note and he was anxious to get to Caem. He wanted to make everything right. Everything needed to be right again. Perhaps the others were right and he was in love with Ignis. That would explain the terrible thoughts and feelings he had been having at the thought of never seeing Ignis again. But, Ignis has always been in his life, more so than his father ever was. Of all the things that had happened over the years, all the good and the bad, Ignis had been the one person that was always there. Not having Ignis around was a shock to the system and he hated it. He never wanted to feel that again.

Noctis loved Ignis, he would never deny that. But the type of love was truly called into question now. Not that it mattered, so long as Ignis was around, that’s what mattered.

They were sitting at one of the tables next to the main road that ran through Lestallum, enjoying street food while waiting for their tipster to return from some errand. Once they turned in their hunt, they would be off to Caem. And Ignis.

Noctis didn’t think anything could dampen is mood until Prompto muttered, “Oh, great,” causing both Gladio and Noctis to follow his eyeline. They watched as Ardyn walked to one of the street vendors to get some food. They all knew it was too much to ask for him to walk on by and not see them.

“Why, hello there!” Ardyn greeted in a way that screamed he’s acting surprised but he knew they were there. “I just stopped to grab some lunch, how lovely to see you four…oh? Only three?”

The trio said nothing, just glared at him.

“Where is your fourth? Is he unwell? Or has there been trouble in paradise? Or could he just not stand the _heat_?”

“What do you want?” Gladio asked while Noctis and Prompto exchanged a glance. Noctis knew the others caught the tone of Ardyn’s ‘heat’ and worry spiked.

“Just saying hi, of course. It would be remiss of me to see old friends and not say hello. But I must be going, lots of things to do, you know,” Ardyn said before taking a bite of the kebab he’d just purchased. He then wiped some sauce from his mouth and tossed the used napkin on Noctis’s empty plate. “Be a dear, please, and toss that for me. Ta ta!”

All three men stared after Ardyn until he was across the street before Noctis looked down at the napkin on his plate. There was weight to it and it made a soft ‘thunk’ noise when it hit. With a grimace, Noctis grabbed a corner and lifted the paper until it unraveled enough to let a silver skull pendant drop from it.

“No…” Noctis muttered before grabbing the pendant and running towards Ardyn. The man had just pulled from his parking space and sped past Noctis with the most devilish look on his face. There was nothing Noctis could do but stare after him as he disappeared down the tunnel. He stood in the middle of the road until an angry driver honked his horn and yelled for him to get out of the road. He didn’t move until Prompto actually came and pulled him back to the sidewalk.

“Ardyn has Ignis?” Prompto asked.

“Yeah, it looks like it,” Gladio said walking to them and pocketing his phone. “I just called Wiz. He said Ignis left three days ago and Snowflake showed up yesterday agitated and with Iggy’s bag still on her saddle.”

“How did he get him?”

“More importantly, where would he take him?”

Noctis said nothing. He was lost in his thoughts. Ardyn knew Ignis was omega. Would he be so bold as to claim him? Ardyn was sadistic enough to do such a thing. He sank into a nearby chair and put his head in his hands. Why did this have to be happening?

He was vaguely aware of the others joining him, but he started to pay a little more attention when Gladio pulled out a map of Lucis and started to peruse it.

“What are the odds that he took him to one of the forts?” Gladio asked. “We’ve already taken down Aracheole Stronghold and Fort Vaullerey, so it’s doubtful he’d be either of those.”

“What does that leave?” Prompto asked.

“Formouth Garrison, Tollhends Stronghold, and Perpetouss Keep,” Gladio said, pointing to each on the map. “But who knows which one he might choose to go to.”

“And it’s unlikely we have time to check each one out one by one,” Prompto said. He was also looking at where the forts were and frowning. The closest was Tollhends, and perhaps that’s where Ardyn had just come from. Or maybe he was headed toward Formouth as that’s where the tunnel would take him.

Noctis paid some attention to their conversation, trying his best to put his own thoughts into some sort of order so he could have an opinion, when someone caught his eye. Quickly, he pushed back from the table (startling his friends) and ran towards the woman he saw. “Aranea!” he called.

The woman stopped in her tracks and turned to look at him. “Well, if it isn’t Pretty Boy and his friends. Though you seem to have swapped out one for another.”

“Do you know where Ardyn might have taken Ignis?” Noctis asked, getting right to the point.

“Ignis? Guy with glasses?”

“Yeah.”

“No clue, sorry,” Aranea said, but she now had a frown that matched their own.

“What are you doing in Lestallum?” Prompto asked.

She rolled her eyes, “Ulldor has commanded I bring supplies to stock up Formouth’s first aid kits. That bastard just loves pushing me around whenever he can.”

“And you let him?” Gladio asked. It was a fair question, Aranea played by her own rules, even when she was doing things for the empire. She was a rare alpha female and she didn’t care to be told what to do or how to do it.

“Pay’s good” she shrugged.

“Take us to Formouth when you go,” Noctis demanded.

“What?”

“Take us with you. Ignis might be there.”

“And he might not.”

“But he might! If you’re getting first aid stuff, maybe it’s for him or…”

She rolled her eyes. “Look, prince, it’s nice that you have an optimistic view as to what the empire does with their prisoners, but he’s either been dropped in a cell somewhere or he’s being tortured. Neither instance would warrant first aid.”

“But…”

Gladio stepped in for the flailing prince, “You’re going to Formouth anyway. Takes us with, drop us off before you go into the fort itself. We’ll pay you for the gas our extra weight will put on your ship.”

She looked between the three of them. “You know it’s suicide, right? He might not be there.”

“But he might! In the span of an hour or so, Ardyn was here, obviously telling us he had Ignis. And now you are here,” Noctis said.

“And nothing about that main is coincidental,” Gladio added. “This is his convoluted way of telling us where Ignis is.”

Aranea thought they were idiots; not only for wanting to go to Formouth but also for believing that Ardyn had any clue that she was going to be in Lestallum at this moment. They were earnest and played to her monetary sensibilities until she finally gave in. Then, while she went off to do her shopping, they finally turned in their hunt and prepared everything they needed to get ready to leave.

Before long, they were loading the Regalia into her airship and headed towards Leide.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's check in with Ignis...

The omegas may have been tasked with keeping Ignis taken care of, but Caligo and Loqi were making it nearly impossible for them to. Especially Caligo, who certainly had a personal vendetta against him. While Loqi’s idea of fun was “I may not be able to have sex with you, but I can sure as hell have sex on you,” Caligo was much more about throwing punches, snapping whips, and, yes, breaking bones.

When Loqi felt like he needed a good fuck, he’d turn Ignis into a chair. Ignis legs would be forced into a bend so that Loqi could use them as a backrest while he pulled whatever omega was closest to him to fuck how he pleased, but instead of knotting her, he’d release on Ignis’s chest and face. It was humiliating. To make it worse, Loqi would work Ignis hard as well, using drugs if needed, to inflict the worst kind of pain due to the chastity belt’s refusal to give.

Calgio would just string him up and beat him until he was too tied to continue. He would then insure that the omegas didn’t let Ignis down before heading on his way. Ignis hung from his wrists on a small hook on the wall. The hook was just high enough that he could attempt to support himself on his tiptoes, but with one broken leg there wasn’t much else he could do but hang and feel his shoulders dislocate. Caligo didn’t even ask for information, he was doing this just for his own amusement.

The omegas did their best, but there wasn’t much they could do.

Ignis had no idea how long he had been trapped with these men. Time was meaningless and he honestly wished it would all just end. Every time he slipped into unconsciousness, he was always surprised to wake up again. It always felt like he should have died but he never did.

He wanted out, but those godsdamned omegas kept bringing him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not going so well for him :(
> 
>  
> 
> I added the torture tag and I don't think this qualifies for depictions of extreme violence or whatever the warning is, but if you think I should pop it on, let me know.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys reach Ignis

They waited for nightfall to infiltrate the garrison. Aranea had confirmed that Ignis was in fort. She didn’t see him but smell of broken omega was so strong when she entered the building he was housed in, there was no way it wasn’t him. Especially since she could also catch a hint of familiarity in his scent after spending so much time in Steyliff Grove.

There wasn’t much of a plan other than go in and get Ignis out. They would do their best to sneak in and take care of as many MTs as they could silently. It was also important to get that weird beacon destroyed to weaken any troops they didn’t take out on their way to it. Aranea pointed to them to the building that Ignis would be in before she left, so at least they wouldn’t be running blind.

It all seemed like such a daunting task, but none of them complained because they knew they had to get Ignis back.

Somehow, they managed to get to the beacon with little issue, but all hell broke loose as soon as it got destroyed. Sirens started blaring and every MT and mech in the place descended on them. It was madness.

Noctis was warping around the best he could, taking out MTs between hits to the legs of the mechs. Gladio was able to swing his sword and take down several MTs at once and Prompto picked them off one by one. That was while things were working with them. They were overwhelmed quickly and pushed further and further apart from one another. Gladio got swarmed and there was nothing the other two could do about it. Prompto was pushed back until he hit a wall when he pulled out the circular saw and just started going to town.

It felt like ages before Noctis finally felt the tug of Ramuh offering to help and as soon as he could tap into that offer, Noctis was all but begging for the Fulgurian to clear out some of the mess. Ramuh did one better and took care of all the remaining MTs and mechs surrounding them.

There wasn’t much time to get to Gladio and apply the appropriate potions before two very angry men descended upon them in their mechs.

“Where is he!?” Noctis yelled as the giant mechs surrounded them.

“Who?” Loqi asked with a tone that said he was wearing the worst kind of grin.

“I think he means our new toy. It’s broken, so I don’t think you’ll want it back,” Caligo laughed.

Hearing Ignis called a toy, an it, and broken, Noctis flew into a blind rage. The armiger came out without being called and Noctis started hacking at Caligo’s mech with all he was worth. The commander didn’t have time to so much as blink before Noctis had managed to completely disable the first leg and move on to the second.

Loqi reacted with a sweep of an arm and he managed to hit Noctis and fling him far from his comrades. Prompto and Gladio had started in on the more vulnerable Caligo and watched helplessly as Noctis went flying. The adrenaline was coursing through Noctis and the hit seemed like a mild inconvenience for all it appeared to bother him. He was quick to use an elixir before warping back in to join the others.

Caligo’s mech went down quickly, but Noctis was all but spent from his exertion. Loqi was much harder to deal with because they were all tired and Noctis was constantly teetering on the precipice of stasis. Defeating Loqi took a lot more strategy and a bit of ingenuity on Prompto’s part. He glanced some discarded rope and remembered a movie he’d seen where they brought down the mech by entangling its feet in rope. It took some time and several hits before they managed to trip Loqi up, but as soon as it fell, they pooled all the energy that remained to decimate the machinery.

Both mechs were down and at least parts of both had exploded. They knew they probably should check on the status of both men, but they needed to get to Ignis.

Exhausted and barely able to move, Noctis led the others into the building that Aranea had pointed out and it was easy to find Ignis from there. Aranea had been right, the smell of broken omega was strong and there was absolutely no doubt who it was. All Noctis had to do was follow his nose and soon they were in the room that housed Ignis and the other omegas.

The women panicked and ran to a far corner, but Noctis barely noticed. All he saw was the very broken form of Ignis hanging from the wall.

“Ignis,” Noctis cried, running to him. There was some comfort in the fact that he seemed to be unconscious because surely that meant he wasn’t feeling any pain. The prince felt helpless and he turned to Gladio, “What do we do?”

Gladio was silent for a moment, taking everything in. Noctis watched as his eyes traveled Ignis’s body. From the disheveled hair covering a bruised face, to the arms that were being held at an odd angle due to dislocation, and finally to the broken leg that someone had tried to care for but did so poorly. Not to mention all the visible bruising and bandages. Somehow Noctis was expecting more blood and open wounds, but those seemed to be well cared for. He figured the other omegas were the reason for that; giving him what care they could.

Then, of course, were the collar and the chastity belt. Ignis had been protected from claiming and Noctis couldn’t help but wonder why. The skin around the collar was red and agitated and although the short tunic did manage to cover some of the belt, Noctis imagined the skin there would look similar. It was awful, seeing his friend, his adviser, the man who was always so put together degraded like this…Noctis didn’t know if he wanted to cry, vomit, or scream. Instead, he looked to his shield.

“Gladio?”

“I pray to the Six he doesn’t wake up,” he finally said after a few more quiet moments. He then lifted Ignis off of the hook as carefully as he could and laid him on the floor. He pulled out a knife to cut through the bindings on Ignis’s wrists and frowned.

“What?”

“I’m not sure I should risk setting his shoulders. We need to get him to a hospital and it may be better to wait until a doctor can fully look him over.”

“What?! We can’t leave him like this, Gladio! Set his shoulders, we’ll give him a potion and—”

“No! No potions!” Gladio insisted. “We don’t know what other damage may have been caused. Giving him a potion now could making things worse. It certainly would only do damage to his leg. He needs a doctor.”

Noctis wanted to argue. He wanted to kick and scream and say Ignis didn’t deserve anymore pain, but he managed to keep himself in check. Gladio was much better versed on this kind of thing and after several deep, centering breaths, Noctis reluctantly agreed.

“Can we at least get this metal shit off? Please?”

Thankfully, Gladio agreed, so while he set off to look for a blanket or something to wrap Ignis in and immobilize his arms, Noctis went in search of some bolt cutters. He realized as he was running through the different rooms that the anger and fear he had been feeling was quickly giving way to panic. He was afraid for Ignis. Afraid of what he went through, what all injuries he had, and how he was going to cope with it all. Would he be able to recover? Would he want to? Noctis remembered how hard it had been when he was eight, he could only imagine it was going to worse now. And Ignis had obviously been tortured, not just attacked as he was.

“Come on, Noctis, you can worry about that later. First help Iggy,” he muttered to himself as he continued his search.

After what felt like ages, Noctis finally stumbled upon a maintenance closet and found what he was looking for. As quickly as he could, he returned to Ignis and Gladio.

“Any change?” he asked, handing the tool over. Gladio just shook his head and carefully broke the locks. First the one on his neck, showing angry red skin and a clear outline of where the edges of the collar had been from it cutting into his skin. The skin under the chastity belt looked a little better. The outline was present, but the skin beneath the metal wasn’t quite so red.

Unfortunately, Noctis couldn’t help but look at the poor man’s dick to see it looked as awful as Ignis’s neck.

Once both devices were safely removed, Gladio gently wrapped Ignis up in a blanket. He was wrapped up tightly, as if in a straight jacket or a baby being swaddled. Then, as carefully as he could manage, Gladio picked up the unconscious omega and slowly started making his way out of the building.

It was only then that either of them realized that Prompto had been missing since they found Ignis. Noctis was certain he’d been with them when the went into the omega room, but afterward, he had no idea. Before he had a chance to worry too much, they exited the building and saw that Prompto had run off to grab the Regalia; driving it right up to the front door so that Gladio didn’t have to go far before carefully setting Ignis inside.

“S-sorry, I just…I just couldn’t see him like that,” Prompto explained. His voice was quiet as if he were ashamed.

“I don’t blame you,” Gladio said. “Thanks for getting the car. I’ll drive as far as I can, but someone will need to take over eventually so we can get him to Lestallum as quickly as possible.”

Prompto nodded as he hopped in the passenger seat while Gladio slipped behind the wheel. Noctis took his usual seat in the back, only this time with Ignis stretched out over him. All Noctis could do was pray they could get to Lestallum before he woke and then get him all the help he needed.

The drive was long and it felt like ages before Gladio finally had to tag out for rest. Prompto took over while Gladio slept. All the while, Noctis stared at Ignis, running his fingers through the light-colored hair, and praying for forgiveness. Noctis didn’t care what Gladio said, he would blame himself for this. If he had only understood and didn’t get angry, none of this would have happened.

“I’m sorry,” Noctis whispered more than once on their long journey to Lestallum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the while, Ardyn is standing off to the side somewhere humming the chocobo theme. Then, after the boys leave, he goes to his omegas and praises them for a job well done. 
> 
> Loqi and Caligo are bruised and battered, but they live to fight another day...unfortunately.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Healing has begun and it goes about as well as you'd expect.

Healing was long and slow, not that anyone thought it wouldn’t be. They got Ignis to Lestallum without incident and allowed the nurses and doctors to take him away. He needed surgery to fix the damage done on his shoulders and to reset the broken leg with a rod and screws. The next time the boys saw him, he was sleeping peacefully after surgery and he almost looked normal.

The doctors then insisted he stay nearby so they could keep an eye on his healing as well as start the process of physical therapy. It would be too expensive to stay in the Leville for the remainder of Ignis’s recovery time, so they found a cheap place they could rent by the month and lived there. It was much too small for four full grown men; with only one bedroom, a kitchen so small that Gladio couldn’t fit inside of it comfortably, and the shittiest bathroom imaginable. But they didn’t complain because Ignis needed it.

They made sure to give Ignis the bedroom, the others would figure out their own sleeping arrangements in the too small living area. If Ignis was home, he would shut himself away in the bedroom. Prompto was the only one allowed in and that was a rare occurrence. When Gladio asked the therapist about the behavior, she reminded them that it was alphas that had tortured him. Even though they were his friends, the scent of alpha probably brought back a lot of memories he’d rather forget. Prompto being a beta was more neutral and calming for him.

Noctis asked the blonde what happened when he’d go see Ignis, but Prompto just shook his head.

“Nothing. I’ll give him whatever he asked for and sit until he tells me to leave. He doesn’t speak or do much more than stare. He’ll eat if I’ve brought food and once it’s gone, I’m told to leave. He’s so lost.”

At first, Ignis was hardly home. He preferred to find a quiet corner in the hospital and just sit. He didn’t want to be around alphas and he didn’t want to be around other omegas. Betas were safe and they were abundant in the hospital. He’d time his appointments out so that there’d be just enough time between it would be silly to go home. At least that way he had an excuse to stay.

The hospital stay and therapy that followed were pricey, quickly emptying their coffers. Noctis and Gladio started taking on hunts and Prompto would find odd jobs around town to work. The arrangement was because of Ignis’s mistrust in the alphas, so if they needed to be gone for a night or two, Prompto would be around to help if need be.

Ignis did willing move about the house when he was alone, but as soon as Prompto or the alphas showed up, he’d return to his bedroom.

It was heartbreaking to see Ignis like this. Quiet and reserved, so mistrusting of even his friends. The boys did everything they could to help, following all the suggestions the therapist had given them. They never pushed themselves on Ignis, they always allowed him to dictate interactions. They’d do little things for him, buy him meaningful little gifts or fix his favorite food. Anything to let him know they were there for him and ready for him whenever he was. They had no idea if it was working, but they would keep doing it.

One evening, Noctis was staring at the closed door when there was a spike of fear in Ignis’s scent. His initial reaction was to jump from his seat and he nearly did before remembering he would be unwelcomed. Probably a nightmare, Noctis sighed. There had been several similar incidents and the fear would come and go quickly. Noctis wished there was something he could do. When he was little, he’d go to Ignis to save him from bad dreams. After the attack, before he could really move on his own he relied on…

“Dammit,” Noctis cursed himself. He grabbed his bag and rummaged around until he found the little wooden carving of Carbuncle. The little messenger had helped him through so many tough times in his life, why didn’t he think to give it to Ignis sooner? He was such an idiot.

He stared at the figure while he thought about what to do. If he knocked on the door, Ignis would ignore him. Maybe if he wrote a note and left it on the little table beside the door, Ignis would find it easily. That’s what he did. He scribbled a note, placed it under the figure, and knocked on the door.

“Hey, uh, Ignis, Gladio and Prompto went to grab dinner and they should be back soon. I’m gonna hop in the shower in case you need me. And, uh, there’s something out here for you.”

He waited a beat to see if Ignis would give any indication that he had heard, but when none came, he turned toward the bathroom and made good on his promise to shower.

~*~*~*~*~

The bedroom door didn’t open until Ignis was sure Noctis had left. He carefully peeked through a cracked door to be check no one was around before opening it just enough to see what Noctis had left. He was shocked to see the Carbuncle figure and at first, he assumed that Noctis had just left it there randomly. But then he saw the note underneath and he knew it was left for him.

Grabbing both the figure and the letter, Ignis slunk back to his bed where he sat. He stared at the figure for a long time before he finally turned his attention to the letter.

_Ignis,_

_I’m sorry. For everything. I know I say that in every note I write, but it’s true. As always, I want to help but I don’t know how. I hope Carbuncle can. He helped me through the worst of times and I think he’ll help you too. I’m sorry I didn’t think to ask him sooner._

_Noctis_

He read and reread the letter, noting that it was the most concise one yet. The other letters that Noctis had written had multiple erasures of thoughts half finished or words he wasn’t ready to write. But at least he was brave enough to write the letters and finish them. Ignis looked at the notebook he had full of letters he had written Noctis. Some were in response to what the prince had written him. Mostly, though, they were apologies and begging for forgiveness.

He felt awful, treating Noctis and Gladio like he had been, but the thought of alphas and omegas around him made his skin crawl. Even Prompto’s visits were hard to deal with because of the ever-present alpha scent that clung to him. He needed to get out of this room and back into the lives of the people who care for him, but it was hard. He had been so wronged and violated… He knew that Noctis and Gladio would never do anything like that. He trusted them with his life, but he just hadn’t managed to convince himself of that yet.

Ignis held the figure, rubbing his fingers along the edges. He needed to speak with Noctis, but he wanted to be sure that they were alone in the apartment without the worry of the others returning.

Outside the door, he heard someone start moving around and he assumed that Noctis had finished his shower. Part of him wanted to go out right then, but he refrained. He needed to collect himself, figure out what he wanted to say, and again, be sure the others wouldn’t be coming home any time soon.

They’d been in Lestallum for two and a half months and Ignis was very aware that his heat would be starting soon. He didn’t know when exactly as he had had a grand total of one, but assuming his cycle would be somewhat regular, he had about two weeks. The pre-heat signs were already beginning to show. He was beginning to nest the best he could with what little he had. More importantly, he was picking out Noctis’s scent easier and it was enticing.

That’s really what he wanted to talk to Noctis about. He didn’t want to be in Lestallum for his heat. He wanted to go to Caem where he would be surrounded by familiar betas. Even then he worried about asking that Gladio stay away. And Noctis. Noctis needed to be gone too because there was no way that he would be able to handle Noctis being there and not with him. And if he was there, Ignis knew what he would ask and Noctis might actually give it to him out of pity.

He didn’t want any more pity. He would ask to go to Caem and they would agree because they pitied him. He would ask the alphas to leave and they would because they pitied him. The thought of Noctis spending his heat with him out of pity was sickening.

He could probably get a shirt to wear to help. Noctis surely had plenty of unwashed shirts he could borrow to wrap himself in. Perhaps he’d ask for some of Gladio’s too, just so they wouldn’t question him. He wouldn’t use them, but…

Ignis looked down at the Carbuncle figure and resolved to talk to Noctis soon. Carbuncle gave him strength. The next time Prompto came in, he’d ask the beta to get Gladio out of the house for a little while. Then he could talk to Noctis and they could be on their way to Caem.

Later that evening, Prompto came to talk to him. A surprising gesture as he was so very insistent about it.

“Ignis, hey, um, while getting dinner, Gladio and I cam across a hunt for some daggerquill, and as I’m the best one at taking them down, um, I thought, maybe…”

“Go, Prompto. You must be tired of being stuck here looking after me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. I’ve been too much of a burden on you already.”

“You’re not a burden!” Prompto cried, but Ignis held up his hand to silence the beta.

“Will Gladio go with you?”

“That was my next question. Those two are helpless against daggerquills, so if you have a preference as to who stays, I’ll take the other.”

Ignis gave it some thought. It would be a perfect chance to talk with Noctis, but he hadn’t expected the opportunity to come so soon. He really wasn’t sure he’d be ready. In the end, he knew he needed to get to Caem as quick as he could, so he said he preferred Noctis to stay.

~*~*~*~*~

Noctis and Gladio both stared at the bedroom door, waiting for Prompto to return. Noctis was certain Ignis would want Gladio to stay and he honestly wasn’t sure if that was okay or not.

When Prompto did return to the living room, he looked straight at Noctis. “Looks like you’re staying, buddy.”

“What?”

“Really?”

The alphas responded at the same time and Prompto just shrugged. “He thought about it and decided on Noctis. I dunno. I do know he seemed almost normal. Like the old Iggy was coming back.”

“Hmm,” Gladio muttered as he leaned back in his seat. “I wonder why.”

Another shrug. “Dunno, man. He was holding something, rubbing his fingers on it like a worry stone or something. Couldn’t tell what it was, but I think it was helping.”

The other two pondered what he could have while Noctis smiled to himself. Finally, he had found a way to help Ignis. If only he’d thought of it sooner.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ignis and Noctis finally talk as things slowly start to get better.

The next morning, Ignis waited. He waited until he heard Prompto and Gladio leave. And then he waited until his bladder absolutely could not stand it any more and he went to the bathroom. As with every time he made the short walk from bedroom to bathroom, if Noctis was in the room, the prince followed his every movement. Subtly, as Noctis was often staring at his phone, but Ignis could feel his eyes watching, even if it was just in peripheral.

With a deep breath Ignis exited the bathroom and forced himself into the kitchen.

“I’m going to make some coffee, would you like something?” he asked. Eyes were purposefully kept intently on his task as he did not want to see Noctis’s reaction.

“Oh, uh,” Noctis started what Ignis assumed would be a refusal. He probably didn’t want to have Ignis do anything for him. But he stopped himself, thought for a second, and then he answered, “Hot chocolate, please? If we still have any.”

Ignis was thankful for the request; a small sense of normalcy. They did have some hot chocolate and it was easy enough to fix for Noctis while he waited for his coffee to brew. Within a few short minutes, Ignis was walking into the living room with two mugs in his hands. He carefully set Noctis’s on the coffee table before sitting himself down as far away from the alpha as possible.

Silence was thick and oppressing in that room while both men sipped their drinks. It was obvious that neither knew what to say or do and Ignis figured he would need to be the one to start. But how?

“Thank you, for letting me borrow Carbuncle,” he finally said.

“I wish I would have thought of it sooner.”

“You thought of it eventually, that’s what matters.”

Noctis opened his mouth, certainly ready to argue, but Ignis didn’t need that. Not right now. The silence was broken he needed to continue.

“Noctis, I’m sorry. For everything.”

“Ignis, no, it’s—”

“It’s not okay. I lied about a very important part of myself and immediately ran after I told you.”

“But I wasn’t exactly a good friend once you did tell me. I shouldn’t have been so angry.”

“Noct, you had every right to be angry. You should have been angrier,” Ignis told him. “Not only did I lie, but I knew I should have told you long before we left Insomnia.”

“But, Iggy…”

“There’s no buts.”

Noctis frowned. “You realize if you insist this, Gladio will have been right all along.”

Ignis chuckled. It was swift but it was the purest thing he had felt in a long time. “You don’t have to tell him.”

There was a brief smile on Noctis’s lips before the frown returned. “Why did you leave? If you expected me to be angry, why did you leave? You didn’t give me a chance to calm down. Before I got out of the shower, I understood why you did it. I was angry and I knew it would take some time to work through all the emotions, but I understood.”

A mirthless laugh, “I didn’t want to be a burden. That backfired miraculously. I was also afraid to go through the heat around you all.”

“But why run? Leave your phone, sell your polearm, and remove your daggers? Why did you want absolutely no contact?”

Ignis shook his head, “I don’t really know what I was thinking. In hindsight, it was the absolute dumbest thing I’ve ever done. But at the time, I think I was just afraid. Afraid of what the heat would be. How it might affect our relationships. Mostly, I think I was just so embarrassed that I kept the lie for so long and I knew you would be mad. I thought that perhaps, if I disappeared, it would be easier for you all to deal with the anger of the lies.”

“You didn’t expect us to be angry that you just ran off?”

“I thought it would be easier to move past that particular anger.”

They sat in silence again. Ignis knew he needed to bring up his next heat and Caem, but allowing Noctis to process all of this first seemed the better idea.

“If…if everything hadn’t had happened; if Insomnia didn’t fall, would you have told me?” Noctis asked.

“No,” Ignis said quietly. “I had planned to have surgery when I turned 25. They wouldn’t let me before then. I planned on having the surgery and being a beta for the rest of my life, as it was supposed to be.” Not wanting to dwell, Ignis also said, “I want to go to Caem.”

“Huh? Now? What about your rehab?”

“I have all the resources to continue physical therapy on my own. Dustin and Monica will also be there to help with training. My heat will be soon and I do not want to spend it in Lestallum.”

“Right. Heat.”

“If it’s a problem then…”

“No! No, it’s not a problem at all. It’s just kind of weird to hear you talk about heats. But, yeah, we can totally get out of here in two days. Give Prompto and Gladio a chance to get back and pack up and whatnot. Is two days okay? Should we try for tomorrow as soon as they get back?”

“Two days is fine,” Ignis said with a smile. “I think I have about two weeks, but the pre-heat symptoms have started. I’m starting to nest and I’m beginning to…” he stopped himself as he was about to say he was beginning to find it impossible to stay away from Noctis, but he amended it to, “I’m beginning to notice alpha scent more. I don’t want to be around alphas.”

“Yeah. Gladio and I will make ourselves scarce once we get to Caem.”

It hurt, it truly did, knowing he was pushing his own friends away. But he couldn’t do it. Even though he trusted Gladio, that man was the epitome of male alpha-ness and he would be extremely intimidating to an omega in heat by just being there. Noctis was too irresistible. The longer they stayed in the same room, the harder it was for Ignis to separate the alpha from Noctis. He would beg for Noctis in Caem, he knew it, and he couldn’t have Noctis know.

“I really hate to ask you to do that.”

Noctis just shrugged, “It’s fine. We should probably take Iris and Talcott too. They probably shouldn’t be exposed to an omega heat just yet.”

“Thank you.”

The silence returned, but it wasn’t as oppressive as before. Things looked to be getting better. Eventually Ignis needed to return to the safety of his room to clear his head. Noctis said he’d run out to do some errands, including talking to their landlord and making a few phone calls. When he returned, he had dinner, and they ate together. It was a quiet dinner, but a relatively pleasant one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I planned this chapter out in my head, there was a lot of POV change between the two. Somehow, upon writing, Ignis became the sole POV other than one tiny bit which I then fixed so that it wasn't weird.
> 
> Writing is such an interesting process.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They get to Caem and they begin to work through Ignis's heat.

Getting to Caem was interesting as it meant that Ignis needed to be in a small space with two alphas. Even with the top down, Ignis could smell them and had to consciously keep himself from drifting towards Noctis. He also couldn’t allow himself to doze, less he wake up to a nightmare. Carbuncle was held fast in his fist and he begged the little messenger to keep the worst at bay.

They spent one night in Old Lestallum where Ignis and Prompto shared a room and drove straight the rest of the way, Gladio and Noctis switching off because no one was going to put an alpha in the backseat with Ignis and Ignis wasn’t ready to drive.

It was a relief to get to the isolated house and after doing some sleeping arrangement swaps so that Ignis could have his own room, everyone settled and waited for Ignis’s heat to actually start.

Eyes were constantly on him. It was if everyone else thought they could predict the beginning of his heat before he could. Any time he was out of his room someone was watching him closely. Usually many someones.

He tried to ignore it. He knew they were worried for him and were ready to help as soon he needed it, but it was grating on the nerves. Eventually he had to tell Monica to talk with everyone. Being under their constant scrutiny was edging too closely to how Ardyn’s omegas treated him. Things were marginally better after that.

Talcott was the only one that openly asked Ignis questions and as much as Ignis wanted to be mad or annoyed at him, he couldn’t. Talcott was still young and curious. He couldn’t quite grasp what was going on and he was trying to figure things out for himself.

It was admirable, really.

“So, you’re omega?” he asked not long after they had reached Caem.

“Yes.”

“That means you can have babies, even though you’re a boy?”

“Supposedly, yes. But I hid it for so long, I may not be able to anymore.”

“Hmm,” Talcott hummed, thinking about what he had learned. Ignis went back to preparing lunch while Talcott was lost in thought. In the living area, Noctis, Prompto, and Iris were playing cards. It was clear they were trying to ignore the conversation going on in the kitchen.

After several moments, Talcott looked up with a big grin and said, “That means you could have Prince Noctis’s babies, right?”

Silence. Absolute silence fell like a brick at those words. Noctis’s face was bright red, Prompto’s mouth was hanging open, and Ignis just stopped in mid-motion and stared. Iris was the only one with the faculties to get up and tell Talcott that you can’t say those kinds of things.

“I only meant that it was possible,” Talcott grumbled as he allowed Iris to lead him outside.

Ignis and Noctis refused to look at each other for days.

~*~*~*~*~

The moment that Ignis started to feel uncomfortably warm, even in the cool sea breeze, everyone packed up and left. They had decided to head down to the haven below the lighthouse to camp and fish and enjoy nature. Noctis put all the necessary equipment in the armiger, they whistled for their chocobos, and headed off.

Monica and Dustin remained with Ignis, ready to help in anyway that they could. They knew they wouldn’t be able to do much, but they could provide food, water, and a watchful eye should a stray alpha wander by.

Ignis wrapped himself in Noctis’s scent by taking the prince’s dirty laundry and lining his nest with it. As amazing as the scent was, Ignis wanted more. Needed more. On the second day, Monica found him sobbing in a rare moment of lucidity.

“What can I do?” she asked.

“Noctis, I need…I need Noctis.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Please. I need him. I don’t want to do this without him. I can’t.”

“We’ll get him,” Monica said, looking over her shoulder at Dustin. He nodded and left the room. “Let’s set some rules, Ignis, while you still can.”

~*~*~*~*~

All Noctis could think about was the fact that just above them, Ignis was in heat. He wanted to be up there so badly. He wanted to help in anyway he could. But he was down here with everyone, camping and fishing. It wasn’t awful, spending the time with the others. This was the first time Talcott had done anything remotely like camping or fishing or even riding chocobos. These were all new experiences for him and it was great to see the wonder in his eyes.

But they weren’t Ignis, and right now he wanted Ignis.

He knew he couldn’t have him and he wanted to throw Prompto and Gladio to Titan for suggesting that he has been in love with Ignis. They aren’t wrong, he’d realized, but it had been so easy to shove those thoughts away before someone else had voiced them.

Noctis thought about everything that had happened in the past few months. He went over every action and every conversation and he tried to think of ways he could have handled them better. This was a process he did every day and he knew he was punishing himself, but he felt like he deserved it. He didn’t care what Ignis or Gladio said, he had to be at fault in some way. Maybe it wasn’t much, but Ignis couldn’t be completely blamed for all that had happened.

He was standing on the dock, teaching Talcott about fishing, when his phone rang. Upon seeing who was calling, he panicked.

“Dustin? Is he alright?”

All eyes were on Noctis, waiting to hear what the phone call was about.

“He is fine, Highness. He is asking for you.”

“Me? Why?”

“I imagine for any number of reasons an omega asks for an alpha while in heat. Can you return?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be right there,” Noctis said before hanging up. He turned to look at everyone and apologized. “Ignis is asking for me, so I’m going to go back up.”

“Is that a good idea?” Gladio asked.

“Probably not,” Noctis admitted, “but I don’t want to deny him this one request.”

“What if he requests more? Noct, you can’t…”

“I know!” he all but yelled. He then took a calming breath and repeated, “I know. But, Monica and Dustin are there to protect him.”

He didn’t let Gladio or anyone else say anything more. He hopped on Glendive and galloped back towards the house and Ignis.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noctis returns to the house ready to help Ignis, but gets thwarted by a protective woman on the phone by the name of Cass.

He could smell Ignis before he got into the house. Monica had seen him riding up and when she opened the door to meet him, Ignis’s scent came with her. Not only through the door before she shut it, but it had also permeated her clothing.

Noctis should have turned around and left right then.

“Prince Noctis,” Monica greeted.

“Hey, uh, how…how is he?” he stuttered, trying hard to find his composure.

“He’s begging for you, but if you cannot abide by the rules, you cannot go in.”

“What rules?”

Monica handed him a notepad and he looked at what was written down. ‘No knots, no bites’ were written in big, bold letters and then underlined several times. It was clear that this was the one rule that absolutely had to be followed no matter what. The other rules were basically various ways of saying no penetration. Not by cock, fingers, or toys.

_Did Ignis have toys? What does he like?_ Oh, that was a question for another day.

The final rule was this paper was what counted, no matter how much Ignis begged.

When Noctis had read through the rules several times, he looked up to agree with Monica. She didn’t say anything. She handed him her phone.

“Hello?” he said, confused.

“Is this Noctis?” a woman’s voice answered.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“My name is Cass and I helped Ignis here at Wiz’s.”

Cass. In what little Ignis had said about his time at the chocobo post, he had mentioned someone named Cass and how she had looked out for him.

“If you don’t think you can handle his heat, walk away now,” Cass said. “He will beg and plead and cry and manipulate any way that he can to get you to knot him. You absolutely cannot.”

“I won’t, I could never. Not if he didn’t want me to.”

“Son, you’re an alpha and when an alpha is near an omega in heat, the brain stops working. How much effort are you putting in to staying on the phone right now and not running to him?”

Noctis didn’t answer. Cass was right, he was itching to get to Ignis and to sate his desires. His silence told Cass everything.

“Young man, do you care for him?”

“Yes,” he answered quietly. She repeated the question and the second time he answered it was with more force.

“Then you have two options. First is to turn around and walk away. Second is to accept that one of those betas is going to be in that room with you to be sure you don’t do anything you’ll regret later.”

“But…”

“No buts. You are a young alpha and that is a young omega. With as long as Ignis has been suppressing himself, I wouldn’t be surprised if the next few heats were stronger than they should be. You cannot be trusted in the same room alone with him. Instinct is a powerful thing and I doubt you’ve had much of a chance to train yourself to resist an omega in heat. If you walk into that room, you accept you will be watched and anything you do will be seen by an outside party.”

“If he doesn’t want these things, why would it matter?” Noctis asked.

Cass chuckled. “Sweet, innocent boy. An omega in heat will take anything they can get. You won’t be in there five minutes before he has ripped your clothes off of you and draped his naked body over yours.”

Noctis was quite glad that he wasn’t having this conversation in person, because he could feel how hot his face was becoming. The idea that Ignis would be naked and on top of him was very enticing.

“He will kiss you and suck your skin. He will beg for your knot while rutting against your leg. He will tempt you with handjobs and blowjobs. He will do whatever he thinks it will take for you to knot him and claim him. It is the way of the omega. Especially during our first several heats.”

All of those things sounded pretty good to Noctis until Cass added, “Now, imagine all of that while one of those Crownsguard is watching you. Staring you down to be sure you don’t go against his wishes.”

That was like a bucket of ice water tossed on Noctis’s head. He wasn’t sure that he was prepare to have his first sexual experience whilst other people were watching.

“Think long and hard about it before you decide. And know, if you hurt that boy, I don’t care if you are the prince, I will hunt you down. Got it?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Noctis gulped.

The conversation was over and Noctis handed the phone back to Monica. He sat down on the front steps and ran everything through his head. Was this something he was ready and willing to do? He’s never done anything before and he was about to walk into an omega’s heat. And not just any omega. The one person he has known and loved forever. He couldn’t even be sure anymore what kind of love he had for Ignis. For a long time, it was a brotherly love. Then, once he presented, he noticed Ignis and had developed a crush on him, but it was easy to dismiss because Ignis was a beta. It would never be allowed. Maybe he never truly got past that crush and it was always there, waiting to be let out again.

Noctis grabbed his head and let out a sound of frustration. These were all the thoughts he has had had ever since Gladio and Prompto called him out. They never changed, even though Noctis kept hoping he’d find an answer. Why couldn’t life throw him a bone for once? It took his father, it took his city, and now it was threatening to ruin everything he had with Ignis.

Did Ignis even want him here? Dustin said he was asking for Noctis specifically, but why? He would have thought that Gladio would have been preferred, as Noctis knew he had some experiences with omegas in heat. Maybe he should call Gladio to ask for advice. No, that would be beyond weird.

While he sat on the steps thinking, he appreciated that Monica and Dustin did not bother him. They both knew that this was a decision he needed to come to on his own and it wasn’t an easy one. Noctis wasn’t sure how long he stayed out there, running the same arguments through his mind countless times. Eventually he didn’t even care about being watched should he decide to stay, he just wanted to figure out what was best for Ignis.

Eventually, a loud, wanton moan made its way to his ears as well as a spike in Ignis’s scent. He sat for a little longer and came to his decision when he heard Ignis beg for him. He would do this for Ignis and just pray that it didn’t ruin everything they had built up.

When he entered the house, Monica and Dustin were in the kitchen. They looked to be preparing some food but stopped as soon as Noctis got close.

“Please, please make sure I don’t do anything stupid,” Noctis ordered before pushing the door off the kitchen open so that he could tend to the needy omega.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Geeze, I feel like all of these filler and high dialogue chapters are just kinda taking over. I don't mean for them too and they were never in the original plan (Original play was 10 chapters anyway).
> 
> Next chapter should be interesting as it'll be the aftermath of the heat and how it effects everyone.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the heat and before Altissia

When Ignis finally started coming down from the heat and feeling like himself, it was if he was coming out of a long dream. It had been the same with the first heat, but that had felt more like a nightmare. He knew that consciousness was trying to get him to wake up but he wanted to bask in this feeling for a little longer. It was difficult to place the feeling, but it was something akin to being complete.

He drifted in and out of consciousness for a little while before he felt movement on the bed with him. Not just on the bed, but that movement was like an arm thrown over his stomach and then a face nuzzling into his back.

Eyes popped open as Ignis jumped from the bed. Or, he had intended to jump, instead he fell hard and tangled in the sheets. He may have actually yelled out, but he wasn’t sure.

Within seconds a very concerned Noctis was leaning over the bed and then the door burst open as Monica and Dustin ran in.

“N-Noct?” he stuttered, confused.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Noctis answered and he must have waved the other two away because they quietly left.

Ignis averted his gaze and thought for a moment. “I asked for you.” He got a hum in response. “And you came?”

“Of course I did.”

He remembered that feeling of completeness earlier and his hand went up to his mating gland, checking for marks.

“No bites,” Noctis promised. “No bites and no sex. Those were the rules and I wasn’t going to break them.”

“Nothing happened?”

“I wouldn’t say ‘nothing,’ but certainly nothing with lasting consequences.”

Ignis wasn’t sure that he agreed to that statement. He had just spent a heat with Noctis. A heat that was coming back to him in bits and pieces. He had flashes of begging for Noctis’s knot, tempting him with blowjobs, and trying to sneak it in whilst the prince was sleeping. Ashamed and embarrassed, Ignis pulled his knees up and buried his face into them.

“Hey, Ignis, talk to me,” Noctis said. He heard movement, shuffling of blankets and clothing, and in the next moment, Noctis had sat down against the bed, facing Ignis. When Ignis didn’t answer immediately, he said, “Take all the time you need.”

Hugging his knees to his chest, Ignis thought about everything that had occurred in the last few months. He’d been forced into the life of an omega, ran away from his friends, spent his first heat with complete strangers, was kidnapped and tortured, something he was still recovering from, and now he’s spent a second heat with the person he’s realized he’s probably in love with.

Where does he even begin to talk to Noctis?

“I wish things were like they were,” Ignis finally said, though even he wasn’t sure if he’d meant to say it out loud or not. “It was easy pretending to be beta. I didn’t have to worry about being laid out quarterly and dropping to basic desires. I never felt like I was missing anything and I never questioned why I was asexual or what was wrong with me. I had my place by your side and that’s all that mattered. Now…” he trailed off.

“Now what?” Noctis asked. He sounded genuinely curious as to why Ignis wouldn’t be able to perform his duties now that he was an outed male omega. “Specs, I don’t see the problem. You are my adviser and nothing will change that. So what if every three months you’ve gotta bounce for a few days. I think we’ll survive. And remember, once we get back to Insomnia, it’s ours to rebuild. Omegas are not going to be repressed in the Citadel as they once were. They will have all the same rights as everyone else over all of Lucis.”

Ignis opened his mouth to refute, but quickly closed it again. Noctis was right. Whatever the world was before, it was theirs to remold into something more suitable. Being outside Insomnia was eye-opening in how the world got on just fine with omegas able to be themselves. There was no reason to think things would remain the same.

“What do we need to do for you?” Noctis asked after a moment. “Should I put you to work in finding more arms?”

With a smile, Ignis nodded. “That would be acceptable. Give me something to work on. Allow me to plan and strategize. Perhaps I can even take over cooking for Monica.”

“Return to normalcy, got it. Can I call Gladio and the others back?”

“Yes.”

They smiled at each other as Noctis stood to leave. He’d already pulled pants on, but as he was getting the shirt over his head, he stopped to look at Ignis.

“Hey, Specs? I want to ask you something. And, and I want you to be honest with me. Why me? Why did you ask for me?”

All the thoughts and feelings that Ignis had tried to ignore the last several minutes were back in full force. The love he felt for Noctis. The completeness he had felt before he was startled out of bed. He watched his prince, no, his king as he responded. “I cannot answer that truthfully.”

A sad smile graced Noctis’s face. “Why?”

“Noct, you are to be wed…”

“No I’m not! The whole treaty was a farce, the wedding was never meant to happen,” he argued.

“It might still be needed,” Ignis countered. “Once we defeat the empire and are trying to build the world into a better place. A marriage between king and oracle may be the thing that brings people hope.”

“And me marrying the person I love wouldn’t?”

That was a shot to the heart. Noctis loved him? No, it couldn’t be. “You’ll need an heir.”

“Ignis, you’re…”

“I’ve been on such strong medications since I presented that I never felt any hint of being omega. It would be a miracle if I wasn’t sterile,” Ignis cut him off.

“Fine,” Noctis said, defeated. “Fine. But, Ignis, I won’t spend another heat with you. I can’t. It would be too hard.”

All Ignis could do was nod. It was fair and well deserved. He watched Noctis leave the room and for a long time he just sat where he was, lost in thought. The smell of breakfast and a rumbling stomach brought him back to his senses. He stood and stretched, frowned at the mess that was his room, and dressed. He would shower after he ate. And do laundry. And before he left his room for the kitchen, he opened the window to let it air out.

~*~*~*~*~

The others returned by midafternoon and the first thing out of Talcott’s mouth was asking if Noctis Ignis had bonded. He was not pleased to hear they had not.

“But that’s what alphas and omegas do, right? They bond when they spend a heat together.”

“We did not. Alpha presence is helpful even without bonding,” Ignis explained. He couldn’t help but notice that Iris looked a bit happier at hearing they had not bonded.

“But Prompto said you’d bond because you’re soulmates.”

Everyone went quiet and turned to the blonde who went beet red before quickly realizing he had left something outside and needed to go it.

“Prompto has many fanciful ideas,” Ignis told him gently. Talcott was not impressed and if Ignis was reading the room correctly, neither was anyone else. Except perhaps Iris, but Ignis gathered she knew she would never have Noctis’s heart, no matter how much she wanted it.

~*~*~*~*~

The next several days they stayed at Caem while Ignis found some sense of normalcy again. There were a few beasts roaming below the house that they went to take out to get him back into practice and they even set up the tent to camp one night before leaving, just to be sure Ignis would be okay in close quarters. Things were much better for the omega. Not perfect, touching was still off limits and his shoulders and leg were very stiff, making him tire easier during fights, but there were improvements.

When they finally left Cape Caem, it was as things should have been. Ignis behind the wheel, Prompto next to him, and the alphas in the back. Their first stop was Meldacio, where they had a dog tag to give to Dave. They had happened upon it during one of their hunts before leaving for Caem and knew they needed to return it.

The trip proved fruitful, as Sania Yeagre was there and asked them to fetch her some fireflies from the nearby Myrlwood. They hadn’t explored the area and upon finding the fireflies, they also found a royal arm. The treant guarding the area was a pain to take down, leaving Ignis winded from the encounter, but otherwise, it was a very good trip.

Next, they headed down to Longwythe where the locals had been complaining about daemons coming out of the nearby Balouve Mines. Some reports Ignis had found suggested that there might be a royal arm in the mines, so it became knocking out two birds with one stone. It was perhaps not the worst place they had ever been, but after so long without fighting all together, it was a challenge. The Aramusha that awaited them was too fast for anyone but Noctis to really follow. Gladio and Prompto might have gotten a few lucky shots, but only Noctis was doing any real damage. Ignis was happy to play support for that battle, being sure everyone was well healed.

When the daemon finally fell, they rested for quite some time before they started looking for the royal tomb. They had just about decided the clues were wrong when Prompto’s keen eye noticed a sizable gap between two stone walls. He and Noctis went through while Gladio and Ignis stayed on the other side. After several minutes, they younger men returned with a royal arm and knowledge of one of those strange doors they had seen in a few different places.

It was midafternoon the day after Balouve when Cid called to say that the boat was in working order. They would return to Caem and then set off for Altissia to see Luna and earn Leviathan’s covenant.

The news of their impending journey across the sea hit Ignis hard. Harder than he thought imaginable considering he had decided to distance himself from Noctis. Things weren’t the same between them, which was understandable. Ignis was still embarrassed over having Noctis come in for his heat and they both knew how the other felt, so distancing themselves was a no brainer. Their friendship was still intact. They would laugh and joke as they always would, but the intimacy was no longer there.

Ignis thought it was better that way. Noctis thought it sucked.

But knowing they were about to head to Altissia and Luna, Ignis suddenly regretted everything. So, when they stopped at a Three Z’s on the way back to Caem, he went and got two rooms and made sure they were not next to each other. Everyone was surprised when he asked Noctis to room with him, but no one commented.

After dinner, when they had all retired for the evening, Ignis suddenly regretted this decision as well.

“Noct, I’m sorry,” he started but he had no idea where to go from there.

“For what?”

“For…everything. For…for…Astrals, I can’t do this. I’m sorry, I’m sor—”

He was cut off by Noctis, who read him perfectly. Ignis had wanted to apologize for pushing him away and for trying to ignore how much he loved him. And when he couldn’t find the words, he was going to push all those feelings down again.

Until Noctis silenced him with a kiss. A fierce, passionate kiss that had Ignis’s legs giving out so that he was forced to sit on the bed. Noctis straddled him, never allowing their lips to part, except for when they were pulling their shirts from one another.

They spent the night making love, knowing this might be their only chance. Even Noctis had come to realize the world might need his marriage to Lunafreya, but he would never love her. They would go to Altissia, receive Leviathan’s blessing, and, Astrals willing, find Luna doesn’t want the wedding or thinks the world would be happier with true love.

No, they didn’t know what would await them in Altissia, but they would have tonight and it would be something they could cherish for as long as they lived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a fight. I started it, wrote a bunch, realized it wasn't right, erased a bunch, wrote more, hated it, erased, wrote...anyway, it was a struggle getting it to make sense and fit with everything.
> 
> I hope it works. Yell at me if it doesn't make sense.
> 
> I dunno about the next chapter. It may be a bit because I gotta work out Altissia. It wasn't in the initial planning but now it feels like it needs to be, so I gotta work out Iggy's encounters with Caligo and Ardyn.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ignis fights his way through Altissia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is very much the first part of Episode Ignis made to fit the story. It was gonna be the whole of Ep Ignis, but it was getting long, so I'm gonna cut it. I've not finished the next part, so I'll laugh hard at myself if it ends up being super short, but it is what it is.

Ignis stared across the city, watching as both Titan and Leviathan raged, smashing the dropships of the empire and destroying the city around them. It was chaos and Noctis was at the center of it.

He was trying to find the best way to the altar, but was thwarted at every turn by MTs patrolling what rooftops and streets remained intact. A tip from Weskham had him headed towards the eastern bridge. Hopefully he would be able to get there and across with relative ease. Relative being the key word as the MTs seemed to multiply with each one he took down.

At the bridge, Ignis had just about reached the high deck when he heard a whistling sound nearing. Had he not stopped when he did, he would have been where the errant missile had hit and been destroyed with the bridge.

Cursing his luck, he stared across the canal in hopes of finding something he could get his borrowed hookshot to, but there was nothing. He’d have to find another way. Turning on his heel, he headed back to the square he was just in when a voice reached his ear. Even with all the explosions and destruction happening around him, this voice cut through the din and caused Ignis to seize in fear and panic as he hid behind a wall support of the bridge.

“Order a full retreat, I’m going in alone,” Ravus said as he headed back towards the center of the city. The other man glared at the high commander’s retreating back and muttered his disdain for Ravus. He then got into his dropship and left, but somehow, Ignis didn’t think he was gone for good.

Caligo was here. One of his tormenters was in Altissia. Ignis slid down the wall and leaned his head back. Deep, steadying breaths were needed to work through the panic attack.

Astrals he was so angry with himself. He didn’t have time to have a panic attack when Noctis was in trouble. But, he couldn’t rush out in his current condition and expect to help. It was best to work through it first. Perhaps he’d get lucky and Caligo would actually leave. Eyeing the destroyed bridge he was sitting on, he did not figure that his luck would be anything but bad.

While recovering from his attack, he neglected to answer Prompto over the headset and was immediately yelled at by Gladio.

“Caligo’s here,” was Ignis’s response.

“Shit. Sorry, Iggy,” Gladio responded immediately and Ignis could tell he felt bad.

“Are you okay?” Prompto asked.

“I…yes. I’m fine now. The bridge was destroyed and I need another way to get to the altar.”

“We’ll come find you,” Prompto said. “We’ll get you and we’ll all go to the altar together.”

“No, Noct might not have the time. Our goal is the altar. Get there, get to Noct. Nothing else matters.”

Both of them made some mumblings that sounded like they were going to protest when another voice cut through the channel, urging everyone to get to the docks to leave. A boat…a boat would get him to the altar quickly, assuming he would be able to avoid angry Astrals on his way. Fortunately, Secretary Claustra was quick to agree to allow him the boat.

Finding the docks was easy, and though the commander there tried hard to dissuade Ignis from running into the inferno, he did not fight him. Wishing the commander luck on getting the rest of the gathered people out, Ignis hopped into the small vessel and took off through the canals.

It was an absolute maze trying to find his way through the buildings and into the open waters the altar stood above. He not only had to navigate without a map, but he also had to dodge crashing ships and falling buildings. Once he was finally able to see the altar, he had to start dodging Titan as well. He thanked the Astral for trying to protect Noctis and Luna as he sped by the gigantic being.

Titan was knocking the imperial ships without any thought of where they might go and that ended up being detrimental to Ignis’s progress. He was almost reached the altar, naught but a stone’s throw away, when a dropship came screaming into his boat, flipping the vessel and causing him to tumble out. Coughing out water, Ignis tried to regain some sense of direction when the worst thing imaginable happened.

Caligo found him.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the omega. I was hoping to find you here. Ardyn’s not here to collar you now,” he sneered.

Every part of Ignis’s body wanted to seize up as panic tried to set in. It couldn’t, he couldn’t allow it. He needed to get to Noctis and the only way to do that was to turn and swim to his boat. As he swam, he could hear Caligo mocking him. Promising him to make it a quick bonding, and maybe if Ignis was good, he’d rape him gently.

If Ignis didn’t have _Get to Noctis_ continuously running through his head, he might very well have given up the fight against the panic and allowed himself to drown, just to stay away from Caligo.

But Noctis was all that mattered, and no one was going to keep him from his king. He made it to the boat and was thankful it still worked.

Caligo chased him in his mech; an impressive bit of machinery that easily moved from water to land without a thought. Once again Ignis was trying to navigate through falling buildings with no idea what laid beyond the next turn. He needed to turn around and double back towards the altar, but there was no path that looked like it would lead where he needed. Caligo firing at him, trying to incapacitate him, was not helping either.

Especially not when a missile hit his boat and for the second time, he was thrown from it. This was worse, though, as he hit the hard tile of a square, leaving more than just a few bruises on his already injured body.

The entire day, Ignis had tried to refrain from using curative items, as he didn’t know who might need it more than him. When Caligo landed his mech next to him and several MT units surrounded him, Ignis knew he was the one in need right now. Pulling out an elixir, he broke it, and stood. His daggers in hand as he prepared to battle.

“Oh, please,” Caligo laughed. “Do you really think that you, a pitiful omega with some shiny daggers, can take on me and my army?”

Ignis held his stance but said nothing.

“I will take you down and I will make you mine. Then, we’ll get to the altar to get that ring and that pathetic excuse for a king.”

Ignis’s eyes narrowed.

“I’ll then make you watch him die after he watches you take my knot and moan my name.”

“NOOOOO!” Ignis yelled as he moved quick as lightning underneath Caligo’s mech and cut into one of the hydraulic lines, crippling the mech. In his rage, he quickly took down the surrounding MTs and then used his elemental abilities to further damage the mech until it finally toppled in a cloud of smoke.

As fast as it came, the adrenaline left, and Ignis collapsed to his knees, trying to regain his breath. From the wreckage, he heard Caligo begin to move, yelling obscenities as he tried to make his away around the machine. Ignis knew that he didn’t have any energy left and if asked to fight right now, he would likely lose.

Just as Caligo started to turn the corner and come into Ignis’s view, Caligo’s rantings stopped with a sick gurgle as Ignis watched a sword pierce his back and out his chest. When it was pulled out, Caligo fell to the ground, dead. For a moment, Ignis just stared at the dead body, hardly daring to hope that the man was truly gone. Then Ravus stepped up to Caligo’s body and kicked it with his foot.

Caligo was dead and Ignis couldn’t even bother to care he didn’t get the satisfaction of being the one to do it.

Ravus looked at the man a second longer before turning his attention to Ignis. Ignis didn’t know what to think at the moment. Their last encounter with the man, left Gladio doubting his abilities and Noctis with a sword to his throat. Should Ravus want to fight now, Ignis still wasn’t in any condition to.

“Catch your breath and follow me,” Ravus said, walking past Ignis and down one of the streets.

“You…you’re on our side now?” Ignis asked, catching up.

“I am on my sister’s side,” was his terse response.

It was clear that Ravus had no intentions of carrying on small talk and based on his answer, Ignis assumed that this alliance was temporary. Their goals aligned at the moment and they could help each other get to the altar. Ignis was not going to look a gift chocobo in the mouth.

Together they wound their way through the ruined city, Ravus knowing exactly where he was going. The number of magitek units decreased as Ravus’s order of retreat was received. Not everyone left, but it made moving towards the altar all the easier.

As they neared the altar, Ravus ran ahead in search of his sister and although Ignis had intended to be right behind, he was stopped by a limping white dog who the collapsed in front of him.

“Luna’s dog,” Ignis muttered as he bent to check on her. Suddenly there was a flash of light and a vision of an older Noctis sacrificing himself to save the world. It was horrible and heartbreaking. Everything they had gone through would end in the death of the one he loved? No, he couldn’t stand for that. There had to be another way.

When the light dimmed, the dog had disappeared, and Ignis ran to join Ravus.

They were too late to save Lunafreya. She and Noctis laid on the altar, but while Noctis was still breathing, Luna had given what life force she had to keep him alive. Ravus went mad with anger and sadness, ready to kill Noctis. Ignis stepped in, blocking his sword with a dagger, and then pushing Ravus away.

Ignis understood the rage. He blamed Regis for the death of his mother and how he was going to blame Noctis for the death of his sister. But that rage would not help the world, it would only hinder it. Ignis fought hard, doing his best to keep Ravus far away from Noctis until the older man finally gave up. He gave in to his sadness and exhaustion. He made his way towards his sister and fell to his knees next to her.

“How I had hoped that you would have gotten a chance to live and love as you wanted. Had a life free of the burdens you have to bear. Even in death, the oracle’s duty is not done. Lunafreya will continue to fight the darkness until it is gone from our star. And she’ll do so in death as she did in life, with a smile on her face.” Ravus held his sister close, begging her not to leave him, crying with the rain surrounding them.

Ignis couldn’t do more than watch the heartbroken man and silently thank Luna for all that she had done.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ardyn takes Ignis to Zegnautus Keep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, sorry for the late update! When depression hits, it hits. I'd pull up the story and stare at it for several minutes before giving up. Super annoyed because we're so close to the end!
> 
> But it's here! I hope to finish it this weekend. Fingers crossed!

Ignis moved to Noctis, looking him over and trying to determine what he could do to help. Minutes later, Ignis was pleased to see Gladio run up; he must have found his own way to the altar and hopefully Prompto was close behind. But Gladio didn’t stop to check on Noctis and before Ignis could ask why, Ravus attacked, calling him Ardyn.

Stunned, Ignis couldn’t do more than stare unbelieving as Gladio dissolved into Ardyn and four troopers ran up to him, pinning him. Ignis cursed himself for his momentary lapse in thought, he should have been quicker for Noctis.

The chancellor was having a gleeful time, toying with Ignis’s emotions, while holding a dagger to Noctis and once Ravus was disposed of for the moment, Ardyn gave Ignis an option: join him or fight.

It really wasn’t much of a choice, as Ignis was prepared to fight, but Ardyn changed his mind and instead had his troopers haul Ignis up and drag him to the awaiting dropship. Ignis fought as hard as he could, but he was weak from the rest of the day.

He did manage to get hold of the Ring of the Lucii, ready to use it should need be, but was knocked unconscious as Ardyn’s ship was taking off.

~*~*~*~*~

The floor was hard and cold and it did nothing for Ignis’s sore body. As he came to consciousness, he could hardly focus on anything that wasn’t his sore, tired body. Everything hurt and moving took an extraordinary amount of effort. It seemed ages, but he eventually managed to pull himself up into a seated position to look around at his surroundings. Unease came quick and he was soon standing and looking around.

“Where am I?” Ignis questioned out loud, not expecting an answer.

“Why, Zegnautus Keep, of course,” came the answer and Ignis turned swiftly to see Ardyn standing where he had not been moments before. The chancellor was smiling. “Oh, worry not, Ignis, your precious crystal is here as well. Journey’s end and all that.”

“Why have you brought me here?”

“Because you seek answers and the Keep gives you a place to start,” Ardyn smiled wider, stepping over to Ignis and gripping his jaw. “Though I have questions of my own,” he forced Ignis’s head to the side so that he could take a good look at the omega’s mating gland. “Such as, how do you remain unbound? I was certain your dear prince would claim you as soon as he took you from the garrison.”

“Did you now?” Ignis tried to pull away, but Ardyn’s grip was too strong.

“I thought he would do anything to keep his beloved adviser with him.” Leaning close, too close, Ardyn licked at Ignis’s gland, causing him to freeze, and then nipped at it. “Perhaps, once this is over, I’ll take my own claim.” Laughing, he stepped past Ignis and was completely gone by the time Ignis spun around.

“How?” he wondered aloud as he rubbed his neck. Astrals he hoped that he never had to put up with that again. Damn Ardyn for being able to use alpha influence over him.

Looking around his immediate area one last time, Ignis decided to pick the direction opposite of the way Ardyn went. Not that there seemed to be much in that direction anyway, but for the moment, Ignis felt it best to keep his distance. He needed time to regain his energy.

Slowly, he picked his way through the boxes and machinery surrounding him. He found himself looking in every corner and crevice in case there was something of use. Nothing stood out to him, but he kept searching. Anything that might help him or the situation was greatly needed.

He was about halfway across the room when a pain exploded behind his eyes and he found himself having another vision, similar to the one in Altissia. Only this one wasn’t about a possible future, but of a certain past. Ardyn, it seemed, was long lived. Born for the throne but cast aside and turned evil. And ready to destroy his own blood.

As hellbent as he was on breaking down Noctis, Ignis concluded they must be related somehow, though he didn’t know exactly how.

Continuing his search, he ran into and quickly disposed of some lesser demons before finding himself in a giant room with what appeared to be an elevator in the middle. Headed towards that elevator was Ardyn and Ignis found himself more curious about this man than he ever had been. Now he would follow him. He didn’t know if he was ready for battle, but his curiosity was piqued and he gave chase.

The elevator took him up to a long catwalk, where once again there was a blinding pain, and another vision. This one was much more similar to the first, showing Noctis as the True King, banishing the darkness, and giving up his life.

No, there had to be another way. Ignis started running down the catwalk and soon found himself with the crystal, suspended from the ceiling. He wasn’t there for a few seconds before the entire room around him went dark with daemon miasma and he turned to find Ardyn standing on the catwalk and looking decidedly more daemon than human.

So many questions ran through Ignis’s head, but the one he asked was, “Why are you after Noct? Revenge?”

A dry laugh as Ardyn pulled the miasma back into his body and returned to his human state. “I have nothing personally against the boy. He is but a means to an end that I have waited a millennia for. Allow me to introduce myself with my given name.” Before Ardyn spoke his name, there was a flash of weaponry that spawned around him. Red weapons that floated and shimmered in a circle around Ardyn’s body. “Ardyn Lucis Caelum.”

The only place Ignis had ever heard of that name was a small aside in an ancient tome. “The Founder King?” he muttered, not calling Ardyn the name, but associating the two.

“Oh, no, that was my dear brother. He gladly stole the throne from me and banished me to the darkness. You know, I have never been called ‘Your Majesty’ before, would you like to be the first?”

“I will only serve the one True King!” Ignis bellowed, pulling his daggers out of Noctis’s armiger.

“Off with your head then,” Ardyn said with a shrug and immediately destroyed any attempt that Ignis made to hurt him.

Ignis couldn’t get in close enough and with a full armiger against him, he truly had no chance. He dropped to his knees only to be kicked down the catwalk. By the time he managed to get back to his feet, Ardyn had called out his entire armiger; an armiger that must have been full of every single weapon ever used by the kings and queens of Lucis.

“I will ask one more time, come to my side, be my omega. Let us make beautiful babies together.”

“NEVER!”

There was no warning as all the weapons started flying towards Ignis and into the surrounding structure. The hits of the weapons on him did minimal damage, although they were destroying the beams and walls around them. Even with minimal damage, however, they blows still hurt, knocking Ignis down again and ending with one hitting him square between the eyes.

He came too amongst the rubble of the shield that once protected the crystal, as well as the crystal itself, with Ardyn standing over him, boot on his chest.

“Your champion is taking too long to take his place and I need something to expedite the process. I was going to kill you, but I think I’ll mate you instead. It’ll be so much more fun watching him die a little each time he sees you call me ‘alpha.’”

Pulling forth what little energy he had remaining, Ignis rolled out from under Ardyn and onto his feet, holding the Ring of the Lucii in front of him.

“How did you get that?” Ardyn asked, for once seeming just a tiny bit afraid.

“I don’t care what happens to this world,” Ignis growled, “but I refuse to stand by while Noctis sacrifices his own life to save ours. I refuse to let that happen, even at the cost of my own life. I will pay that price!”

Ignis shoved the ring on his finger and pain like he had never known erupted inside of him. It felt as if his body was burning from the inside out. His eyes felt like they were melting and pouring out of their sockets. He was aware, even amongst all the pain, of the old kings watching him, judging him. Somehow he begged for the power to defeat Ardyn and save Noctis. How he would gladly give his life if it meant Noctis could live a full one. He begged with the kings that Noctis deserved that after everything.

Before he knew it, Ignis felt the pain turn into power. He wasn’t aware of hearing the decision of the kings, but he found himself going toe to toe with Ardyn’s full armiger and winning. Every movement burned and each hit from Ardyn was like acid, but he fought on. He fought for Noctis and the life he deserved. He fought for Gladio and Prompto. He fought for Luna and Ravus. He fought for everyone back home that had suffered from the attack. But it always came back to Noctis. Noctis was the face that kept flashing before him and the one that spurred him on.

The battle was long and exhausting. As soon as Ignis felt the magic of the ring leave him, he knew he had won. The kings had given him enough power to defeat Ardyn, no more and no less. Ardyn continued to vow his revenge as he disappeared in a haze of daemon energy as Ignis collapsed to the floor, ready to die.

~*~*~*~*~

“IGNIS!” Noctis yelled after watching him collapse and Ardyn disappeared. He didn’t wait for the others, he pulled out his engine blade and warped to the omega.

“Noct…?”

“No, shh, don’t speak,” Noctis said, hands hovering over Ignis’s body, unsure what to do. His skin had turned to ash, the Ring of the Lucii the source.

“How…?”

“Ravus, if you can believe it,” Prompto answered once he and Gladio caught up.

“Why would you do that!? What were you thinking?!” Gladio cried, voice breaking in emotion.

“How could we let it come to this?”

“How could _I_ let it come to this? This is all my fault,” Noctis sniffed. Staring at the ring, he carefully slipped it off of Ignis’s finger. “How am I suppose to save the world if I can’t even save the people I love? No. No, this ends here.”

He had always assumed that the ring would hurt once he placed it on his finger. There was something about it that always radiated pain. Perhaps it was from the stories he grew up hearing or maybe the look on his father’s face every time he would return the ring. Other than the initial surge of power that ran through him, there was no pain. Only a vague sense of hope for the future. He could do this, he didn’t know how, but he knew he could.

Carefully he lifted up Ignis, turned towards the crystal, and asked for its help to protect his friends. A powerful light emitted from both crystal and ring and he felt a comforting warmth envelope Ignis. Looking towards him, Noctis watched as the majority of the ash returned to skin and what remained scarred. A lasting memento of what Ignis was willing to give up, perhaps.

It was time, Noctis knew. It was time to go into the crystal and prepare for the coming of the dawn. He dropped his face into Ignis’s hair and took a few breaths. Not only did they help steady and ground him, but he felt he would need a long-lasting memory of Ignis. He then kissed Ignis’s crown and stood once Gladio had his arms around him.

Warping towards the crystal, he first stared into its glow before turning to look at his friends. Gladio and Prompto held Ignis steady and Ignis watched on. Noctis felt like it was going to be a very long time before he would see his friends again and for the briefest of moments, he faltered. But Ignis gave him an encouraging nod and Noctis knew it would be okay. Returning the nod, Noctis turned back to the crystal and willingly walked inside.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quiet moment at Caem five years after the dawn.

The house at Cape Caem looked little better than it did the first time that Ignis had been in it. Some improvements had been made during the long night, but for the most part it was still the run-down old building that no one ever cared about. That was the preferred reaction to any locals, kept nosy neighbors away.

Ignis was in the kitchen, putting together sandwiches when there was a slight shift in the cloud cover and the bright sunlight peeked through a crack in the curtains. He closed his eyes and reached for his visor. It had been five years since the dawn and it was clear he would always be a little extra sensitive to the sun. He supposed it could be worse.

He continued working on lunch as he thought about the things he needed to do. Monica was bringing his parents in and they would likely arrive late afternoon. There still seemed so much to do around the house.

He smiled at the thought of his parents and the fast friendship they had formed with Monica. Lestallum had become refuge for people all over Eos and his mother was quick to start helping as soon as she arrived. As a nurse, she could never see people suffer and do nothing. Monica had been injured on a mission and it was Serena that had patched her up. It was a few days before they made the Scientia connection. Monica let Ignis know as soon as she realized.

As he finished up his sandwiches, he had one warning bark before the front door slammed open and two little girls came running around the counter shouting “Papa papa papa!” and holding a bunch of flowers each.

“Look at the flowers!”

“We wanna make crowns!”

“Like Aunt Iris showed us!”

“Daddy couldn’t remember how!”

Ignis chuckled as he glanced towards the front door where Noctis was kneeling next to Umbra, scratching his ears and pretending he wasn’t paying attention.

He knelt to be at eye level with the girls, “What pretty flowers, but lunch is almost ready. Why don’t you wrap them loosely in wet paper towel, wash up for lunch, and we’ll make crowns afterward. Okay?”

“Okay!” the chirped together before grabbing the paper towel Ignis handed them and took off up the stairs to their room.

“Sounds like you three had a good morning,” Ignis said as he grabbed the plates to put on the table.

“They were having a lot of fun grabbing all the flowers. Then they yelled at me for not knowing how to make the crowns. Thankfully, you remember…right?”

“Of course. I actually listened to Iris when she taught them.”

“You’re the best,” Noctis said, kissing his husband on the cheek. He then frowned at the visor. “The sun bothering you? We can get thicker curtains.”

“No, it’s nice to feel the sun. I would hate to deny any of you the warm rays of the sun.”

“You were the only one to live through the night. Don’t worry about us.”

Ignis shrugged. “Gladio called.”

“What did he want?”

“To yell at us for leaving when he—”

“He realizes this is his third child, right?” Noctis laughed. “He has more experience than us!”

“You know how terrified he is of hurting such a small person. Remember how he refused to touch the girls until they were walking?”

They shared a laugh as they both dropped into thought about the two girls above them. Little miracles that they are.

Noctis refused to wait to make Ignis his once the dawn returned. Ignis’s first heat post-dawn had been amazing and despite all the years of hiding his dynamic and assuming he would be infertile, that first heat had him bonded and pregnant. With twins. They never expect one baby, let alone two. It was a difficult pregnancy and they decided to add a hysterectomy to the c-section to truly prevent further pregnancies.

No one blamed them. Especially with how perfect their girls were. They were certainly the alpha’s daughters. Pale skin, dark hair. The only indication they also belonged to Ignis was their bright green eyes.

Eliana Lunafreya and Aurora Serena were two of the first babies to be conceived and born after the dawn. And as they were the daughters of the True King, it was a very special occasion that the world wanted to celebrate. Noctis and Ignis both would have preferred to just let the day go without much pomp and circumstance, but the people insisted on showering the new parents with more gifts than they knew what to do with.

The girls came running back downstairs and settled in their chairs. They were excited to be at Caem because it was the first time they had left the city and they were excited to see their grandparents. They kept asking when they could go to Tenebrae to visit them, but their fathers were adamant about waiting until they were older.

The family ate a quiet lunch and Ignis scolded Noctis for feeding scraps to Umbra. Noctis reasoned he was a messenger and not a dog, but Ignis wouldn’t have it. The girls giggled, loving to see their fathers argue like that.

Noctis cleared away the dishes while Ignis went with Eliana and Aurora outside to start making flower crowns. The flowers hadn’t dried out any due to the girls careful wrapping and the three laughed as they created the crowns. There were enough flowers for both girls, Papa, Daddy, Gram and Gramps, and just enough left over to put a little ring around Umbra’s ear.

It was when the sun started to settle below the top of the lighthouse that they heard the sound of a boat nearing the cape. The girls jumped up and ran towards the lighthouse with Umbra in tow. Noctis came up to wrap his arms around Ignis’s waist and lean into him.

This is what they had fought for. Perfect little moments like this. It wasn’t always easy, rebuilding the world took a lot out of someone, but having quiet moments to be family and hear their little girls laugh made everything worth it.

They shared a smile and a kiss before heading towards the lighthouse so that they could all greet Ignis’s parents together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Both girls are essentially named Sun Moon (Aurora is more Dawn, but eh). Noctis wanted to honor Luna and they went with Moon theme by also honoring Ignis's mom.
> 
> So, we made it to the end! Yay! Thanks for coming along this journey with me. Hope you all enjoyed it <3


End file.
